The Acadiana Advocate 02-17-2026 by The Advocate

ROYALRAMBLE

License-platereadercameras

Lawenforcement says they are crime-fighting tool

BYSTEPHEN

MARCANTEL Staff writer

Drivers in Lafayette mayhave noticedblack, solar-powered cameras installedalong roadways in recent weeks. The cameras are not operated by the Lafayette Police Department, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Of-

ficeorLafayetteConsolidated Government. Some of the cameras are automatic license-plate readers, or ALPRs, operated by Flock Safety, aprivately owned, Atlanta-based public safety technology company. Lawenforcement cites ALPRs as apowerfulcrime-ﬁghting tool that helps them locate and stop suspects. Butthe camerashave been raising privacy concerns across thecountry Since its founding in 2017, the company’sreach has expanded to morethan5,000law enforcement

Committeetoreview applicants on Thursday

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Presidential Search Committee will consider 12 applicants before selecting its semiﬁnalists at ameeting this week.

The university has been without apermanent president since July when then-President Joseph Savoieabruptlystepped down It has had twointerim presidents, Jaimie Hebert, who hassincereturnedtohis position as provost,and Ramesh Kolluru, former vice president of research, innovation and economic development.

The 21-membercommittee will meet Thursday morning in Baton Rouge to discuss the candidates and select semiﬁnalists.

The candidates are: n Wenbin Deng, dean and Sun Yat-sen University (Guangdong, China) distinguished professor of pharmacology n Robert Dodd, support team specialist of research compliance with the Biomedical Research Alliance of NewYork n Pernell Goodwin, vice president of Co-

(TNS) Investigators workingonthe disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’smother are consulting with Walmart management to developleads because a backpack the suspect was wearing is sold exclusivelyatthe stores,the Pima County, Arizona, sheriffsaid Monday Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her

page 4A Queen Evangeline LXXXVII, Lily Claire Hutchison, tosses beads to onlookers during the Queen’s Parade on Mondayin Lafayette.

agenciesand more than 6,000 communities nationwide,according to the Flock’s website. Across the country, 90,000 Flock license platereaders have been deployed, according to the American Civil Liberties Union Exactlyhow manyare in Lafayette isn’tclear,but according to Deﬂock, aself-reporting website, there are more than 100 cameras in and around the city They areplaced alongmajor thoroughfares like University Avenue, West Congress Street and Camelia Boulevard. More than20

cameras are installed across the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. LPD conﬁrmed it owns Flock ALPRsbut didnot providedetails of a contract or associated costs. Andcosts can vary OneIndiana sheriff’sofﬁce paid $5 percamera, while aCalifornia police department paid $300,000 undera two-year contract with the company,according to CBS News andColumbus-based media outlet TheRepublic.

ABOVE: Members of the Krewe of Attakapas ride in the parade honoring Queen Evangeline LXXXVII on Monday. RIGHT: Paradegoerswavefor beads as the Queen’sParade rolls by on Monday.

STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIE WESTBROOK

Administration ordered to restore slavery exhibits

PHILADELPHIA A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore the slavery exhibits that the National Park Service removed from the President’s House last month.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, issued a ruling Monday requiring the federal government to “restore the President’s House Site to its physical status as of January 21, 2026,” which is the day before the exhibits were removed.

The order does not give the government a deadline for the restoration of the site. It does require that the National Park Service take steps to maintain the site and ensure the safety of the exhibits, which memorialize the enslaved people who lived in George Washington’s Philadelphia home during his presidency and were abruptly removed in January Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration filed a federal lawsuit arguing that dismantling the exhibits was an “arbitrary and capricious” act that violated a 2006 cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government

The federal government has the option to appeal the judge’s order During a hearing last month, Rufe called the federal government’s argument that a president could unilaterally change the exhibits displayed in national parks “horrifying” and “dangerous.” She ordered the federal government to ensure the panels’ safe keeping after an inspection and a visit to the President’s House earlier this month.

Israeli to be charged with killing activist RAMALLAH, West Bank Israeli prosecutors said Monday that they plan to charge a settler in the killing of a Palestinian activist during a confrontation that was caught on video, opening a rare prosecution of violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The death in July of Awdah Hathaleen has drawn particular attention due to his involvement in the 2025 Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” which chronicled Palestinian villagers’ ﬁght to stay on their land. The case also stands out because the confrontation between Palestinians and Yinon Levi, an internationally sanctioned settler, was captured on video from multiple vantage points. In a video that family members say was taken by Hathaleen himself, Levi could be seen firing toward the person holding the camera. Another showed Levi firing two shots without showing where the bullets struck.

An Israeli judge released Levi from custody six months ago, citing a lack of evidence that he ﬁred the shots that killed Hathaleen.

Israel’s State Attorney General’s ofﬁce conﬁrmed in a statement Monday that it had initiated proceedings to indict Levi. It did not specify the charges.

Khalil Hathaleen, Awdah’s brother, said the family was glad some measure of justice was being pursued but felt the charge of “reckless homicide” was insufﬁcient.

“It was an intentional killing in broad daylight, with prior intent and premeditation,” he said Explosion in China kills 8 ahead of Lunar New Year

BEIJING An explosion and ﬁre at a ﬁreworks shop in eastern China has killed eight people and left two others with minor burns ahead of the Lunar New Year, authorities said.

The Sunday afternoon blast in a village in Jiangsu province was caused by a resident setting off ﬁreworks improperly near the store, the Donghai county government said in a statement. Setting off firecrackers at midnight on the Lunar New Year is a tradition in China, but many places have banned fireworks in recent years, at least in part because of air pollution.

The Lunar New Year falls on Tuesday It will mark the start of the

3 killed in R.I. rink shooting

3 also hospitalized in incident authorities say may have been family dispute

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press

PAWTUCKET, R.I Three people, in-

cluding the suspect, were fatally shot during a Rhode Island youth hockey game Monday, authorities said.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that three other victims are hospitalized in critical condition.

“It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute,” she said. Goncalves did not provide details about the suspect or the ages of those who were killed, though she said it appeared that both victims were adults.

She said investigators are trying to piece together what happened and speak with witnesses of the shooting inside Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles outside Providence They are also reviewing video taken from the hockey game. Unveriﬁed footage circulating on social media shows players diving for cover and fans ﬂeeing their seats after popping sounds are heard.

Outside the arena, tearful families and high school hockey players still in uniform could be seen hugging before they boarded a bus to leave the area. Roads surrounding the arena were shut down as a heavy police presence remained and helicopters ﬂew overhead.

Pawtucket is nestled just north of Providence and right under the Massachusetts state border A city of just under 80,000, Pawtucket had up until recently been known as the home to Hasbro’s headquarters.

Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall dies

BY BOB THOMAS Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the ﬁrst two “Godfather” movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in “Tender Mercies,” has died at age 95.

Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.

“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented.”

The bald, wiry Duvall didn’t have leading man looks, but few “character actors” enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin Beginning with his 1962 ﬁlm debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals. They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for “Tender Mercies,” which came out in 1983.

He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove,” a role he often cited as his favorite. In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts. He had been acting for some 20 years when “The Godfather,” released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, “The Rain People,” with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the maﬁa epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others. Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the center of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family “Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of ‘The Godfather?’”

who with equal vigor enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battleﬁeld by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn’t find one of ’em, not one stinkin’ dink body

“The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”

Coppola once commented about Duvall: “Actors click into character at different times — the ﬁrst week, third week. Bobby’s hot after one or two takes.”

Research, planning, energy

Fellow actors marveled at Duvall’s studious research and planning, and his coiled energy. Michael Caine, who co-starred with him in the 2003 “Secondhand Lions,” once told The Associated Press: “Before a big scene, Bobby just sits there, absolutely quiet; you know when not to talk to him.” Anyone who disturbed him would suffer the wellknown Duvall temper, famously on display during the filming of the John Wayne Western “True Grit,” when Duvall seethed at director Henry Hathaway’s advice to “tense up” before a scene.

a prize he accepted while clad in a cowboy tuxedo with Western tie. In 1998, he was nominated for best actor in “The Apostle,” a drama about a wayward Southern evangelist which he wrote, directed, starred in, produced and largely ﬁnanced. With customary thoroughness, he visited dozens of country churches and spent 12 years writing the script and trying to get it made. In his mid-80s, he received a supporting Oscar nomination as the title character of the 2014 release “The Judge,” in which he is accused of causing a death in a hit-and-run accident. More recent ﬁlms included “Widows” and “12 Mighty Orphans.”

Son of admiral, actress Robert Selden Duvall grew up in the Navy towns of Annapolis and the San Diego area, where he was born in 1931. He spent time in other cities as his father, who rose to be an admiral, was assigned to various duties.

Bobby took after his mother, an amateur actress, in playing a guitar and performing. He was a wrestler like his father and enjoyed besting kids older than himself.

In another Coppola ﬁlm, “Apocalypse Now,” Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lt. Col Bill Kilgore,

Duvall was awarded an Oscar in 1984 for his leading role as the troubled singer and songwriter Mac Sledge in “Tender Mercies,”

Iran meets U.N. nuclear watchdog in Switzerland

BY JAMEY KEATEN and STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN Associated Press

GENEVA Iran’s top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said he would also meet with Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi of Oman, which is hosting the U.S.-Iran talks in Geneva on Tuesday “I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi wrote on X. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”

As U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an additional aircraft carrier to the region, Iran on Monday launched a second naval drill in weeks, state TV reported It said the drill would test Iran’s intelligence and operational capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman

Just before the talks, Iran announced its paramilitary Revolutionary

Guard started the drill early Monday morning in the waterways that are crucial international trade routes through which 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Separately, EOS Risk Group said sailors passing through the region received by radio a warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, likely would see a livefire drill Tuesday Iranian state TV did not mention the live fire drill. This is the second time in recent weeks sailors have received warning about an Iranian live fire drill. During the previous exercise, announced at the end of January the U.S. military’s Central Command issued a

strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard. While acknowledging Iran’s “right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters,” it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels.

The Trump administration is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. On Sunday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran could be open to compromise on the nuclear issue, but is looking for an easing of international sanctions led by the United States.

He lacked the concentration for schoolwork and nearly flunked out of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. His despairing parents decided he needed something to keep him in college so he wouldn’t be drafted for the Korean War. “They recommended acting as an expedient thing to get through,” he recalled. “I’m glad they did.”

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year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK STOCKWELL

A woman reacts near the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I after a shooting at the ice rink on Monday.

PHOTO PROVIDED By IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRy Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, right, and International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi meet Monday in Geneva, Switzerland

Duvall

TheKrewe of Bonaparteheld itsFifty-thirdAnnual“Le Bal Du Courennement”Monday evening, February 16,2026, in theLafayette Cajundome Convention Center.The theme of this year’s celebrationwas “Bonaparte Dishes it Out!” EmperorNapoleonXLIX,Douglas JamesComeaux andEmpress JosephineXLIX, Rachel Dias Comeaux, ruledoverthisyear’s festivities.

KreweofBonaparte

TheA merica nf lagwas presentedbythe University of LouisianaatLafayette Color Guardwhile theStar-Spangled Banner wasperformedby MichaelScott Boudreaux.A MardiGrasblessingwas given by theMostReverendAndrew PhilipSchumacher.Atthesound oftheCaptain’swhistle,thecrest of theKreweofBonaparte was presentedand thequest for “Joie De Vivre” began. Le Premier of theKrewefor 2025-2026, Brady “Fig”Belland hiswifeAshley JohnsonBellwerepresented to thecrowd.The past fortyeightyears of Napoleonsand Josephines made theirentrance in grandMardi Gras style. Bonaparte’sMarquisdeLafayette 2026,the Captainofthe Ball,was GregoryPaulGeoffroy. TheMasterChef Captainappearedwithhis oversized gumbopot,preparing ahot Cajundishfor thehungry crowd. Theleader of this culinary ball welcomed the crowdwithtantalizing aromas that teased them about thespecial presentation Suddenly,all attentionturnedtothe arrivalofHis Imperial Majesty, Napoleon XLIX,Douglas JamesComeaux TheKingworeatailored, royalblueNapoleonicriding coat with whiteridingpants andblack leatherboots.The Emperor’scoatfeatured antiquegoldbullion metallic trimsofthe Napoleonic era. Napoleon proudlydisplayed hisson-in-law’sdistinguishedUSArmymedalsearned for heroismand meritoriousservice as well as outstandingachievement in anon-combatarea.His Napoleonic hatwas adornedwithavintage regalred cockadeand he carried areplica of Napoleon’s military sword. EmpressJosephineXLIX, Rachel Dias Comeaux dressed forthe coronation in ared silk gown that was accented with hand beaded goldbullionembroidered trim,aurorarhinestonesand buglebeads.The gown featured aJosephine-inspired neckline andempire waisttowhich herregal redsilktrain linedwithgold tissue lamé wasattached, alledged in exquisitegold beaded trim.EmpressJosephineworeaMedicicollar of gold lace andrhinestones. Shecompleted herlook with abespoke reproduction of theroyal crownwornby Josephineand carried aFrenchinspiredregal scepter. MonarchsNapoleonand Josephinewereseatedon theirroyal thronesastheywereservedbyBonaparte’s Chef Captainand courtmembers from around thetable! TheCaptain’s deliciousmealbegan with atasting of alittlespicy Asiandish!

RoyalMaidMelissa Maeker surprisedthe hungry revelersbypopping outofa takeoutbox servingAsian-inspired ﬂair with MardiGrassparkle!Anequal match forthisforeign dish wasRoyal Duke BrandonEbner Breaux as MediterraneanLambChops.Thischeeky duke humorously costumed as asheep herder,blending rustic charm, playfulirony,and MardiGrasmischief loves

hisflockoflambs with their cozy coats! Everyone lovespretty French Pastries!Our next course,Royal Maid Pamela AnnGrace dressedasa delightfullydaintycharacter inspiredbyFrenchMacarons Stackedinpastelswirlsof sweetnessand charmand presentedwrapped in atiny packageshe wasadelight for thetaste buds. Searching foraruggedmanly,foreign meal to addtothe tableau theCaptain orderedTacos!! RoyalDukeEvanDrew Saterfielwas foundsouth of theborderasaMexican Bandido, wearingtacochaps andshootingshotsofTequila. It wasnow time forthe chef to adda little south Louisianaseasoning. Royal Maid TiaCarlosCastillegot caught in theraincausing this little cutietospill her Morton Salt alloverthe arenawhile trying to season thecrowd.IncontrastRoyal Duke ChristopherJoseph Bordes wasour spicy, flaminghot ChiliPepper, leaving fiery streaks of flamesdown therunway. What happenswhenyou mixSaltand Hot pepper?The start of agreat Cajundish!!

RoyalMaidBethRatcliff Deloachwas discovered in Italy, servingher grandmother’s dish of Italianspaghetti Herspaghetti sauceand spicymeat ballswereacrowd favorite.Our ﬁnal RoyalDuke, ChristopherPaulRader wasBonaparte’s GrillMaster! Notbeing able to drag himselfawayfromhis grill, he broughtittothe stage bringing thesizzle, smoke, andswagger of barbecue to theMardi Gras crowd.

Afterthe RoyalCouples were presented, Napoleon crownedhimself as Sovereignofhis Empire andEmperor of theKreweofBonaparte. He then turned to crown Josephinetobehis beautifulQueen

ThePresident of theGreater SouthwestLouisiana MardiGrasAssociation ChrisPaulVillemaretteand hislovelywife, StaciKnox Villemarette were presented. Themaids anddukes of theGreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociation were acknowledged King GabrielLXXXVII,JohnWesleyBordelonand QueenEvangelineLXXXVII, Lily Claire Hutchison, were introduced to theaudience. Themonarchstoasted each other, thecourt,and theirguests. Theheralds,Nora Jean andAnnieJames Decou, dressedintheir culinary best,skipped to thethrones to deliveraninvitationto theKrewe’s royalrulersfor MardiGrasDay 2026

EmperorNapoleonXLIXandEmpressJosephineXLIX, theCaptain,and theRoyal Courtreveled thecrowd for theGrand March. Parade Routeprovidedmusic for the evening. Rebecca Landry directed thetableau andthe stageand royalcostumesweredesignedbyTed Viator andconstructed by Viator andAssociates, Inc.,Karen Guidry,and Cheryl Nevils.

Napoleon XLIX, DouglasJames ComeauxJosephine XLIX, Rachel Dias Comeaux

MARDI GRAS 2026

GUTHRIE

Continued from page 1A

Arizona home on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day Authorities say her blood was found on the front porch Purported ransom notes were sent to news outlets, but two deadlines for paying have passed.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson the night she vanished. A porch camera recorded video of a person with a backpack who was wearing a ski mask, long pants, a jacket and gloves.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said in a text message to The Associated Press on Monday that the 25-liter “Ozark Trail Hiker Pack” backpack was the only clothing item that has been “definitively identiﬁed.”

“This backpack is exclusive to Walmart and we are working with Walmart management to develop further leads,” Nanos said The suspect’s clothing “may have been purchased from Walmart but is not exclusively available at Walmart,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday “This remains a possibility only.” Investigators on Sunday announced that a glove discovered near the Guthrie home has been sent for DNA testing. The FBI said that it received preliminary results Saturday and was awaiting ofﬁcial conﬁrmation. The development comes as law enforcement

CAMERAS

Continued from page 1A

LPD said it makes all placement decisions, and cameras are “deployed intentionally based on public safety needs and operational considerations.” The cameras are governed by department policy, an LPD spokesperson said.

The ACLU has accused Flock of violating the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizure by allowing law enforcement to conduct warrantless searches of Flock databases to identify suspects. In Texas, a police officer used Flock databases to locate a woman who allegedly self-administered an abortion, according to 404 Media. However, a federal district court in Virginia recently upheld that law enforcement did not violate Fourth Amendment rights when it conducted a warrantless search of Flock databases to find a robbery suspect. Virginia media outlets reported that a local police department was sharing data with federal immigration authorities, despite the agency’s claim otherwise. The same report found that a Virginia sheriff’s office used camera data to perform immigration-related searches at the behest of immigration agents.

In August 2025, Flock said it did not have a contractual relationship with U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies, but that it has engaged in “limited pilots” with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations in an effort to combat human trafﬁcking and fentanyl distribution, according to the company’s blog.

gathers more potential evidence. Authorities previously said they had not identiﬁed a suspect

The FBI said the suspect in the surveillance footage is a man about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a medium build Nanos said on Monday that members of Guthrie’s family, including siblings and spouses, are not suspects.

“The family has been nothing but cooperative and gracious and are victims in this case,” Nanos said in

a statement.

Media outlet TMZ has received a fourth demand for bitcoin in exchange for the name of Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper, the entertainment news and gossip site said Monday

“I know what I saw ﬁve days ago south of the border and I was told to shut up so I know who he is and that was definitely Nancy with them,” the alleged clue-holder’s message read in part, according to TMZ. Monday’s missive was

A Flock Safety camera on

100

Following backlash over a Super Bowl ad, Ring, the Amazon-owned doorbell company, canceled a partnership with Flock that would have allowed Ring users to share footage with Flock and local law enforcement agencies, according to TechCrunch. Arkansas, Idaho and Montana created laws that protect personal data from ALPRs, while several cities have terminated their contracts with the security company according to Stateline.

the second to reference multiple kidnappers and a possible international component, TMZ noted.

The bitcoin account matched the one in the previous three notes TMZ has received, the outlet said, referring to the sender as he.” The person has tweaked his demand since the FBI increased the potential reward to $100,000 on Friday and is now asking for $50,000 in bitcoin upfront, followed by $50,000 more after he supplies the information, TMZ said.

PRESIDENT

Continued from page 1A

piah-Lincoln Community College’s Natchez campus

n Chavonda Jacobs-Young, former under secretary and chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture

n Hitesh Rai Kathuria, tenured professor and former provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Empire State University in Saratoga Springs, New York

n Ramesh Kolluru, interim president of UL and former vice president of research, innovation and economic development

n Richard Ludwick, former president and current president emeritus of the University of St. Thomas in Houston

n Kristian Magar, vice president of health, safety and environment of Cactus Wellhead in Houston

n Robert Nobles III, vice president for research administration for Emory University in Atlanta

n Evan Ortlieb, dean of the college of education and human sciences at South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota

n Connie Veazey, clinical psychology program director and core faculty for the clinical psychology program at Fiedling Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California

n Cortlan Wickliff, associate vice provost of academic affairs and strategic initiatives at Rice University in Houston. Notably absent from the list of applicants is Hebert, who said in November he was interested in participating in the search as an applicant. It is unclear why he didn’t apply

The outlet said it was passing all messages to the FBI and urged the person to send the information.

“We will immediately forward the information to the FBI. If it leads to ﬁnding Nancy and/or the kidnappers, you then have a public record that you are the one responsible, thus ensuring you will get the reward. The FBI is aware we are making this overture.”

The sender told TMZ that a 10-year-old burglary charge made him hesitant to come forward publicly The would-be tipster first messaged TMZ last Wednesday asking for a single bitcoin — about $67,000 — for information on Nancy’s whereabouts. A second message was sent on Thursday and a third on Friday in which he promised to reveal “the name of the main individual” once the first payment had been deposited. It was the first indication that more than one person may be involved, TMZ said.

Savannah Guthrie pleaded once again for Nancy’s return in a short video late Sunday

“It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken, and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope. And we still believe,” the “Today” co-host said in a video posted to Instagram.

“And I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is that it’s never too late, and you’re not lost or alone,” she continued haltingly, appearing to search for the right words. “And it is never too late to do the right thing. And we are here And we believe And we believe in the essential goodness of every human being. And it’s never too late.”

After semiﬁnalists are selected, the committee is expected to conduct on-campus interviews and select ﬁnalists on Feb. 23-24. The finalists should be presented to the full University of Louisiana system, which oversees UL, at a special meeting on Feb. 27.

The decision to form a search committee came last year during a Nov 13 meeting that addressed speculation the UL system board would forgo a search and install a president at the university without any input from faculty staff or students. Professors and the public pushed back against initial plans to install Kolluru into the job without a search.

The search committee last month heard from faculty, staff, alumni and community members who asked them to prioritize transparency in their search and to choose a leader who will focus on student success and address the university’s financial woes. The next president of UL will be tasked with tackling the school’s financial struggles. Financial concerns came to light last year after UL’s Vice President of Finance and Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc resigned abruptly in May, and Savoie stepped down in July before his contract was up. After being named interim president, Hebert announced job eliminations and other cost-cutting measures to try to make up for a $25 million deficit.

The search committee will meet to select semifinalists at 10 a.m. Thursday in the Louisiana Purchase Room of the Claiborne Conference Center 1201 N. Third St. Baton Rouge. Reporter Megan Wyatt contributed to this report.

Contact Ashley White at ashley white@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

West Congress Street in Lafayette is one of more than

that have been placed around the city

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By Ty ONEIL

Betsy Robb a Seattle resident wintering in Tucson, Ariz signs a banner supporting Nancy Guthrie on Friday

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Royal maids toss beads to the crowd during the parade honoring Queen Evangeline LXXXVII on Monday in Lafayette.

Members of a U.S. Army band perform during Monday’s Queen’s Parade.

Minn. denied access to evidence in shooting

BY JEFF DAY

The Minnesota Star Tribune (TNS)

The Trump administration has formally denied Minnesota law enforcement access to information and evidence from the FBI investigation into the shooting death of Alex Pretti by federal agents on Jan. 24 in Minneapolis.

The announcement comes in the wake of White House border czar Tom Homan announcing the end of Operation Metro Surge and a drawdown of federal agents in Minnesota Homan’s arrival came in the wake of global outrage over the killing of Pretti, and Homan vowed a renewed focus on cooperation between state and federal ofﬁcials.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said in a news release Monday that the FBI notified him last week that it will not share evidence from its investigation with the state. Evans said the BCA has continued to request access to federal investigative materials not only from the killing of Pretti but also from the killing of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan 7 in south Minneapolis and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis by a federal agent in north Minneapolis on Jan. 14.

“While this lack of cooperation is concerning and unprecedented, the BCA is committed to thorough, independent and transparent investigations of these incidents,” Evans said, “even if hampered by a lack of access to key information and evidence.”

The BCA, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and Minnesota Attorney General’s Ofﬁce have been working together to conduct an independent state investigation into the killings of Good and Pretti.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement Monday that the federal government’s refusal to cooperate shows it is “not conﬁdent in their agents’ actions or their immediate response.” She praised the BCA for its efforts to conduct a joint investigation but said that even without federal cooperation the “work continues” on a state investigation.

Gov Tim Walz posted on social media that, “Minne-

sota needs impartial investigations into the shootings of American citizens on our streets. Trump’s left hand cannot investigate his right hand. The families of the deceased deserve better.”

Last week, Walz said the state and federal governments were “very close” to an agreement to share investigative materials.

“We’re only asking for what’s always been done,” Walz said. “We’re only asking for the right thing. Justice needs to be served.”

Pullback from deal

Two weeks ago, people familiar with the ongoing effort to repair relationships between the federal and state governments told the

Minnesota Star Tribune the announcement of a joint investigation between the FBI and BCA into the killing of Pretti was imminent. That announcement never came.

Walz said the Trump administration pulled back from the joint investigation after details of the agreement were reported by the Star Tribune before it was formally announced.

Walz said there’s a “contingent” within the FBI and federal government that understands the best way to investigate the fatal shootings is jointly with the state. The framework for a joint investigation is in place, he said.

“It’s just a matter of them feeling like they have an upper hand to announce it.”

After Pretti was killed by a Border Patrol agent and a Customs and Border Protection ofﬁcer, BCA investigators were denied access to the crime scene on Nicollet Avenue by federal agents, despite having a judicial warrant granting them access. That led several state political and law enforcement leaders to argue that Minnesota had entered an unprecedented situation where the federal government was refusing to adhere to state laws.

The BCA and other law enforcement ofﬁces in Minnesota have longstanding ties to the FBI and a history of working together on criminal investigations of all sorts. The rupture in the relationship first became apparent after the killing of Good, when Trump administration ofﬁcials, including Vice President J.D. Vance, quickly branded Good a domestic terrorist, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the federal government was not investigating Ross.

“The Department of Justice, our civil rights unit, we don’t just go out and investigate every time an ofﬁcer is forced to defend himself against somebody putting his life in danger,” Blanche said. “We never do.”

Congressional hearing

At a U.S Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., last week, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Good and Pretti were not domestic ter-

rorists. “To my knowledge, no,” acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan grilled Lyons at the hearing on whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House senior adviser Stephen Miller may have biased the investigation into Good and Pretti’s fatal shootings by calling them “domestic terrorists.”

“I don’t want to comment on what comments they made; it’s their comments,” Lyons responded. “But again, I don’t want to put my ﬁnger on the scales of the investigation.”

GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky criticized federal officers for failing to de-escalate the situation, including shoving a woman before spraying Pretti with a chemical irritant. Pretti, he said, “is retreating at every moment.”

“He’s trying to get away, and he’s being sprayed in the face,” Paul said.

He said ICE and the Border Patrol “must admit their mistakes, be honest and forthright with their rules of engagement and pledge to reform” because many Americans aren’t trusting the feds will conduct fair investigations. Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said the chaos in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge “was all a direct result of radical sanctuary state and city policies in Minnesota by preventing local law enforcement from working together with federal law enforcement.”

Searchers find wreck of steamer in Lake Michigan

Luxury vessel sank 150-plus years ago

BY TODD RICHMOND Associated Press

MADISON, Wis Searchers have discovered the wreck of a luxury steamer that sank in a Lake Michigan gale in the late 19th century completing a quest that began almost 60 years ago

Shipwreck World, a group that works to locate shipwrecks around the globe, announced Friday that a team led by Illinois shipwreck hunter Paul Ehorn found the Lac La Belle about 20 miles offshore between Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, in October 2022.

Ehorn told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Sunday that the announcement was delayed because his team wanted to include a three-dimensional video model of the ship with it, but poor weather and other commitments kept his dive team from going back down to the wreck until last summer Ehorn, 80, has been searching for

shipwrecks since he was 15 years old. He said that he’s been trying to pinpoint the Lac La Belle’s location since 1965. He used a clue from fellow wreck hunter and author Ross Richardson in 2022 to narrow down his search grid and found the ship using side-scan sonar after just two hours on the lake, he said.

“It’s kind of a game, like solve the puzzle. Sometimes you don’t have many pieces to put the puzzle together but this one worked out and we found it right away,” he said. The ﬁnding left him “super elated.”

Ehorn declined to discuss the clue that led to the discovery Richardson said in a short telephone interview Sunday that he learned that a commercial fisherman at a “certain location” had snagged what Richardson called an item speciﬁc to steam ships from the 1800s. He declined to elaborate further how competitive shipwreck hunting has become and said the information could alert searchers to another way to conduct research.

According to an account on Shipwreck World, the Lac La Belle was

built in 1864, in Cleveland, Ohio

The 217-foot steamer ran between Cleveland and Lake Superior but sank in the St. Clair River in 1866 after a collision. The ship was raised in 1869, and reconditioned.

The ship left Milwaukee for Grand Haven, Michigan, in a gale

Obama says aliens exist, but not at Nevada’s

BY SPENCER LEVERING

Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS) and The Associated Press

Former President Barack Obama said in a podcast interview Saturday that aliens are real, but they aren’t at Nevada’s Area 51. During an appearance on YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen’s show, Obama said he hadn’t seen extraterrestrials but that they existed

“They’re not being kept in Area 51, there’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States,” Obama said during a rapid-ﬁre round of questions at the end of the interview Cohen didn’t ask a followup question on the subject, and Obama didn’t explain his answer further

“What was the ﬁrst question you wanted answered when you became president?” Cohen asked next.

“Where are the aliens?” Obama replied with a laugh.

On Sunday, the former president released a statement on Instagram, appear-

ing to clarify what he meant by his comments that have since gone viral.

“I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” Area 51, the classified operating location near the Nevada National Security Site about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has long captured popular culture’s attention as a government facility believed to be holding UFOs and aliens. In reality, the site has been a test bed for the nation’s high-tech aircraft dating back to when it was established in 1955 to test the high-flying U-2 spy plane. But the U.S. government did not acknowledge the facility’s existence until 2013, when the CIA declassiﬁed

Area 51

documents conﬁrming Area 51’s use as a testing site for U-2 and SR-71 spy planes. The secrecy surrounding the site’s purpose has made Area 51 the subject of countless out-of-thisworld conspiracies, including claims that the facility holds pieces of alien spacecraft and technology that workers are trying to reverse-engineer National media attention turned to Area 51 in September 2019 after a viral social media post saw millions demand a glimpse of extraterrestrial life.

A tongue-in-cheek Facebook event made by California man Matty Roberts had more than 2 million people sign up to storm Area 51, all pledging to run into the facility and “see them aliens.”

An Ipsos poll conducted during the Storm Area 51 social media movement found a quarter of Americans thought that crashed UFO spacecrafts are held at the site. Slightly more than half of Americans, 52 percent, believed that extraterrestrial life exists.

on the night of Oct, 13, 1872, with 53 passengers and crew and a cargo of barley, pork, ﬂour and whiskey About two hours into the trip, the ship began to take on water uncontrollably The captain turned the Lac La Belle back toward Milwaukee but huge waves came

crashing over her, extinguishing her boilers. The storm drove the ship south. Around 5 a.m., the captain ordered lifeboats lowered and the ship went down stern-ﬁrst. One of the lifeboats capsized on the way to shore, killing eight people. The other lifeboats made landfall along the Wisconsin coast between Racine and Kenosha.

The wreck’s exterior is covered with quagga mussels and the upper cabins are gone, Ehorn said, but the hull looks intact and the oak interiors are still in good shape.

The Great Lakes are home to anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 shipwrecks, most of which remain undiscovered, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Wisconsin Water Library Shipwreck hunters have been searching the lakes with more urgency in recent years out of concerns that invasive quagga mussels are slowly destroying wrecks.

The Lac La Belle is the 15th shipwreck Ehorn has located. “It was one more to put a check mark by,” he said. “Now it’s on to the next one. It’s getting harder and harder The easier ones have been found.”

Winter storm wallops California with high winds, heavy rain, snow

BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press

California was walloped Monday by a powerful winter storm carrying treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas.

Millions of Los Angeles County residents faced flash flood warnings as rain pounded the region and people in some areas scarred by last year’s devastating wildfires were under an evacuation warning through Tuesday because of the potential for mud and debris flows.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered emergency crews and city departments to be ready to respond to any problems.

The storm wreaked havoc on roadways spanning from Sonoma County to the Sierra Nevada. Trafﬁc was halted temporarily in both directions on I-80 near the Nevada state line due to spinouts and crashes, the California Department of Transportation reported. In Santa Barbara County, a large tree toppled onto U.S. 101, shutting down southbound lanes. Forecasters said the west-

ern slope of the Sierra Ne-

vada, northern Shasta County — including portions of Interstate 5 — and parts of the state’s Coast Range could see up to 8 feet of snow before the storm moves through late Wednesday The heavy snow, wind and low visibility could also make travel conditions dangerous to near impossible, forecasters added.

“It has seemed ‘springlike’ for a large part of 2026, but winter is set to show it’s not quite done yet,” the Shasta County Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said in a social media post urging residents to stay aware of the storm.

California’s Office of Emergency Services said it was placing fire and rescue personnel and resources in areas most at risk for flooding, mud and debris flows.

In Southern California, Six Flags Magic Mountain was closed Monday due to the storm, and Knotts Berry Farm amusement park shut its doors early But the winter weather was celebrated by local ski resorts that have waited weeks for snow Other states on Monday braced for different threatening weather events. Resi-

dents in parts of eastern Colorado received warnings that they could be in fire danger due to a combination of abnormally high temperatures, gusty winds and dry conditions. The risks were expected to continue further into the week as gusts up to 60 mph are likely to hit the Colorado eastern plains on Tuesday Parts of Texas, New Mexico and Kansas were also under red flag warnings. The latest storm comes amid a snow drought across much of the American West, with snow cover and depth measuring at the lowest levels scientists have seen in decades. Most states saw half their average precipitation or less in January, though California fared better others due to heavy rains in December It was the first of several days of stormy weather forecast for California. A coastal flood advisory was in effect for San Francisco until Tuesday afternoon, with cooler showers and a chance of hail on Tuesday, while nearby mountains were expecting snow, the National Weather Service in Monterey reported.

PHOTO PROVIDED By BRENDON BAILLOD

An image of an original photo print shows the Lac La Belle docked at Marquette, Mich., in 1866. Searchers have discovered the wreck of the steamer in Lake Michigan.

MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE PHOTO By ALEX KORMANN

Hundreds of flowers and pieces of art are on display Saturday at the memorial site for Alex Pretti in Minneapolis

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

It’s halftime, nota hobby

Five, six, seven, eight. When Iwalked into Premiere Fitness in Metairie on Feb. 7, Nelly’s“Hot in Herre” wasalready in full rotation and 27 senior adults were fanning their faces to the beat.

Then they started moving.

“Group One comes in on one. Group Twoonthree. Group Three on ﬁve,” called out Willy Foster, choreographerand coach. “Now, when you’re bringing that arm around to reach down, nobody throw out ashoulder.Wedon’t have time for that today.”

I’m not sure what Iexpected when Iarranged to practice with the Early Birds, New Orleans Pelicans’ over-55 dance team, but Ididn’texpect Nelly Watching the moves they had learnedinthe 30 minutesbefore I arrived made me rethink jumping rightin.

Idecided to observe. After all, I had photographs to take. More than 200 people audition for the Early Birds each year Only 27 members are selected. The team reﬂects the full spectrum of New Orleans. Some are lifelong dancers, while others found their way back to the practice later.They perform once amonth duringhalftime at the Smoothie King Center.It’sapaid gig —anhourly rate for practices,performances and appearances. There are Saturday practices in Metairie and adress rehearsal at the arena before each game to set and perfect the routine. This is not ahobby class. This is halftime. Many of the Early Birds —and Foster herself —have been with the organization since the Hornets era.

Foster,35, blends serious expectations with an understanding of thelives her dancers have already lived. She started as adancer on the Hornets’ kid team, theStingers.Asayoung adult, shewas a Honeybee for two seasons, then danced three years with the Houston Rockets before returning home to coach. She’sinher sixth year working in the NBA “I get to tie in the culture that I grew up on with the team,” Foster said. Second-line songs, line dances, rap and other New Orleans staples are layered into their routines, eight counts at atime Under her leadership, the practice moves quickly.Water breaks are short and frequent.

When dancers return to their spots,some are peeling bananas. Team member Gwen Simpson bringsfruit to every practice one of the small gesturesthat separates this group from the typicalimage of professional dance rehearsals. Some call her the group’sCarmen Miranda. There is laughter.There is encouragement. There are corrections. When they moved into asection that involved eight counts of striking apose followed by another eightcounts of striking adifferent pose, one of the dancers said to me, “Get in here and join us.”

Sixteen counts of posing had me thinking, “I’vegot this.”

Then the music shifted to Flo Rida’s“Low,” and we were “tootsie rolling” to “apple-bottom jeans and boots with the fur ”

Idid my best to keep up.

Tworows in front of me, Sharon Carter Sheridan, 76, was doing just ﬁne. She’s been dancing with the group since it began in 2007.

“It’ssoexciting,” she said. “Once youget on that ﬂoor and people start clapping and screaming, the music is just so much fun.”

Duvall’stimeremembered

Actor filmed ‘The Apostle’ around Lafayette

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Fans of actorRobertDuvalltoday are mourning his deathatage 95 and recallingtheir favoriteDuvallmovies.

SouthLouisiana residents, meanwhile, are reminiscing about thetime Duvall spent ﬁlming and directing“TheApostle” in Acadiana. Released in 1997, “The Apostle” starred Duvall as aTexas preacher who fled to Louisiana after beating his wife’slover

According to online and local

sources,St. Martin Parish was the primarylocation for the movie’s production.

OtherAcadiana locations reportedly included in and around the former EastBayou Baptist Church in Lafayette,Sunsetand theAtchafalaya Basin

People also recallsome scenes were shot in and around Baton Rouge, Gibson and Des Allemands.

Other known actorsinthe ﬁlm included Billy BobThornton, Farrah Fawcett and June Carter Cash.

Duvalreportedly hiredlocal

actors, production workers and extras.

Attorney Ryan Goudelocke was ar ound 17 -18 years oldand an altarboy when he was calledupon by the Diocese of Lafayette to play asmall, nonspeaking rolein theﬁlm.

Goudelockeplayed an altar boy holding abook while the Rev Glynn Provost performed aceremony during the Blessing of the Fleet.

Duvall, he recalled, was in the background of the scene. Goudelock didn’tspeak with him “I thought it was kind of neat beinginitfor abouthalfasecond,” he said.

Lafayette native Leslie Bourque-Walsh, who nowlives in New Jersey,was aproduction assistant on the ﬁlm, setting up Fawcett’shotel room at the Hilton, getting her food and favorite ﬂowers. She picked up Thornton’s assistant at the airport and they became friends, reconnecting when Bourque-Walsh moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Shirees Dufour wrote on the

See DUVALL, page 4B

CHILDREN’S CHASE

Festival International releases 2026 lineup

Musicalcelebration marks40thyear

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Festival International is getting readytocelebrate aspecial anniversary,and the 2026 lineup proves it. From local hitmakerslike theGiversand renownedLouisiana culture bearers such as ZacharyRichard, to internationalacts that remind us of thepower of music to connect across borders and languages —40years later,Festival International de Loui-

siane is still placingmusic on center stage in downtown Lafayette. Festival International released this year’s lineupatAcadianaCenterfor theArts during Artwalk on Saturday.The event featured the special 40th anniversary commemoration book thatdocumentsthe artists, crowds andmagical moments of Festival through the years, along with the story of Festival International —how it reignited acity eager to promote its rich cultural history in the wake of an economic downturn.

See FESTIVAL, page 4B

KEMP

ABOVE: Achicken tries to makeits escape fromchildren during theTecheCenter for theArt’s Courir des Enfants ChickenRun startingatSt. Bernard Catholic Church on MondayinBreaux Bridge. The Courir desEnfantsisthe old Mardi Gras tradition of chasingachicken or chickens around town andcollecting gumbo ingredients fromresidents.

LEFT: Musicians lead therunners down East Main Street.

Severaltornadoes reported on Saturday

BY STEPHENMARCANTEL Staff writer

At least four tornadoes are conﬁrmed to have touched down in the Acadiana region on Saturday night. The tornadoes’ wind speed reached anywhere from80 to 95 miles per hour,according to theNational Weather Service in Lake Charles. No injuries were reported. Evangeline Parish received one EF1 tornado,

wasreported around 9p.m., northwest of Pine Prairie near the Crooked Creek Reservoir. Trees andsix buildings weredamaged. The EF,Enhanced Fujita Scale, categorizes tornadoes by the highest burst of wind speed. With an EF0 beginning at 65-85 mph, up to an EF5 with wind speeds over 200 mph, according to the weather service. In Acadia Parish, an EF0 tornado landed around 10 p.m. near Hancock Road,southeastofCrowley,

No injuries, minor damagereported ä See STORM, page 4B

STAFFPHOTOSByBRAD

Duvall

MardiGras spirit welcomes alltothe celebration

Editor’snote:This editorial, slightlymodiﬁed, hasappeared during previousCarnival seasons in this newspaper

If Mardi Gras is so great,one might ask, as another Fat Tuesday arrives today,thenwhy hasn’titbeen copied across the land?

Maybe it’sbecause any effort to duplicate Mardi Gras beyond Louisiana would surely lead to efforts to improve it, makingitintosomethingnoone wouldrecognize.

Thecharm of Mardi Gras —and itsmaddening complication —isits monstrous inefficiency. The parades are longer than anyprudent planner would make them. The distributionof beads and other trinkets is random, excessive, profligate —inshort, areveler’srebuke to any student oflogistics. As forthe Mardi Grasdiet —king cakes, cocktails, gumbo andgoodnessknows-what-else —suffice it to say thatit’sa running revolt against restraint.

One can only imagine how aprudent reformer might reﬁne Mardi Gras if it were attemptedin some saner city —like Omaha, Nebraska,say, or Peoria, Illinois. The parades would be shorter,nodoubt, more punctual, with an eyetoward keeping everyone on schedule. Transplantedto tamer places, aMardi Gras menu mightreplace king cake with bran mufﬁns, bourbon with herbal tea, gumbo with tofu.

But the magic of Mardi Gras —the onewe know and love —isthat ittranscendsthe mean arithmeticofmeans andends, thearid geometry of the straight line, thegriminsistence that hard fact is somehow invariably betterthan heady fantasy

Yes, Mardi Gras is too much —too much noise, too much food, too much togetherness. But like all holidays,itmakes ameaning from its heedless plenitude.

Sadly,wefeel the need to say again that the heedlessness of Mardi Gras isn’ta license for wantoncruelty or racism, which everysooften rearsits ugly headonthe parade route as it did on one ﬂoat over the weekendinNew Orleans. We condemn it now as we alwaysdo, butwe wishthat all could move past this foronceand for all. It goes against the spirit of Carnival which simply put, afﬁrmsthatlife’sgoodfortune, when shared generously,bears theseeds of its own renewal

It is that spirit which draws thousandsto come to Louisiana to join theparty.Acelebration that welcomes all also addshundreds of millions of dollars into thecoffers of thecity of New Orleans alone. We knowthat other festivities attract millions more to cities andtowns around the state

But Mardi Gras isn’tsolely about money.Part of the joy for Louisianans is sharingthe good times, andthey are alwaysgood times,with our friends from around the world.

So let the good times roll, and HappyMardi Gras to all.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

What BR canlearn from Ohio aboutcurbing crime

As aBaton Rouge native, Iwas disheartened tosee another act of gun violence at aMardi Gras parade in Clinton that left several people injured, including a6-year-old child. Events meantfor joy should never turn intoscenes of fear.While homicides have declined nationwide since thepandemic, violence involving young people is increasing. Baton Rouge cannot accept this as inevitable. There is an opportunity for my hometown toturn acorner.InColumbus, Ohio, where Inow live, the city achieved ameaningful reduction in homicides through abalanced approach that combined strategic enforcement, community engagement and evidence-based intervention

Akey driver of this progress was Columbus Violence Reduction, housed within the city’sOfﬁce of Violence Prevention and grounded in theGun Violence Reduction Strategy developed by theNational Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.

At thecenter of this work is direct, respectful communication with individuals at the highest risk of serious

When did our nation begin protectingthose who are here illegally morethan our own citizens? And why —the better,but even more speculative question.

So often we hear mainly politicians when speaking about one in an opposing partyclaim, “no one is above thelaw.”

Then why don’tweall support that claim for those here in our country illegally,and who have aknown violent criminal past?

Idon’tlike what Isee regarding what Immigration and Customs Enforcement is having to go through to locate and bring those who are here illegally to justice. If only we had consistent, secure borders, Ibelieve that all could have been avoided. But then many of those so-called protesters, who are not,inmyopinion, protesters but paid activists, would be out of ajob. Then theregretful news of afederal judge from Louisiana, born in

violence. Twotools matter most. Custom notifications areface-to-face meetings where asmall team,often including ahigh-ranking police officerand atrusted community leader, meets with ahigh-risk individual in their homeorneighborhood. The message is personal and clear.Violence must stop, support is available and the individual has choices. Call-in sessions, also knownas community safety meetings, bring together high-risk individuals and community stakeholders to deliver a unified message about accountability,consequences and help. These meetings treat people as responsible adults while making clear that continued violence will bring swiftattention and that positivechange will be supported. This approach helped Columbus reduce retaliation, stabilize lives and save lives. With commitment from community leaders, lawmakers and criminal justice partners, Baton Rouge can do thesame. We owe our children and our neighborhoods nothing less.

TERRANCEHINTON Westerfield, Ohio

Lafayette, releasing fourillegal immigrantswith vast violentcriminal backgrounds, just slapped me across my true American face. How does this beneﬁt our beloved stateornation?

Bad form, your honor. Iamcertain that if acriminal enters your homeillegally after he gets by your guarded community,brick fence, alarm system and bolted door lock, you will allow him to stay,even if he is aknown violent criminal, just as you have forced thesame on those of this state andnation.

Spilling red wine on awhite tablecloth is easy but leavesanasty stain. Getting the stain out is tough. For four years, our nation wasinvaded by illegal immigrantswith ease. Trying to clean it up is not so easy, especially with so many obstacles in ICE’sway God bless America!

JEFF CAVELL Crowley

The penny dropped recently,and I had an epiphany about storytelling. My brother’swifeonce said at afamily gathering that we always tell the same stories, something my husband also said about aclose friend group. Our shared stories impart asense of belonging, asense of inclusion and wellbeing. We share stories because they matter to us and reinforce our shared history.Some of our stories may be slightly less than accurate, as memories can be ﬁckle, but are good stories nonetheless. As adults, family members realized that the story of their grandparents’ escape from World WarIIinPoland couldn’thave unfolded as always told when compared to historic facts and timelines. But that didn’tmake it any less compelling in the family’shistory Someofour stories are all too real and traumatic, like an aunt’salcoholism,a neighbor’sphysical abuse of his wife or acousin’scriminal past. Lives were impacted and changed.

All of our stories are important, which makes the current administration’sefforts to change or alter American history so deplorable. Hiding our history with afocus on the positive doesn’tundo the negative. Excluding people from the story doesn’tmean they weren’tthere. And the truth will always come out. “Patriotic education” should mean that we embrace all of our stories so we can learn from them, rejoice in them or worktonever repeat them.The deﬁnition of apatriot is one wholoves their country in spite of its faults and works to makeitbetter

CHERYL KOBETSKY Baton Rouge

The current administration is using $45 billion to movebeyond temporary tents to permanent structures to detain persons fordeportation. Undocumented immigrants are not an inexhaustible resource to support permanent detention jobs. To keep those current jobs in Louisiana, forinstance, whowill next be “detained” forprocessing?

JAMES

R. MADDEN Baton Rouge

In Carnival satire,a littleless Trump, alittlemoreTrumpism

Each year,when Iwriteaboutthe hot topics in Carnival satire, my first step is to look for an overridingtheme. Often, over the past decade, that process hasstarted and ended withone word: Trump. In 2026, ayear into Donald Trump’s return engagement as president, the New Orleans krewes that specialize in satire seemed to collectively settle on avariation on thattheme: Not so much Trump, but Trumpism, or different aspects of theall-encompassing national drama that has been hissecond term. In other words, while we didn’tsee that much of Trump’ssignature orange face or painstakingly sculpted hair down St. Charles Avenue, we sawplenty of floats inspired by the insane flood of news around him. The krewes that practice thiscraft considerthemselvesequal opportunity satirists, although it’s fair tosay that the Krewe of Muses tends to lean somewhat left and KnightsofChaos andleKrewe d’Etat more to the right Ithink we saw more of that this year than in the past, along witha certain heightened levelofcoarseness from some quarters. Maybe that’s just asign of our angrily divided times.

Each of these parades has an overall theme, so the floats are designed to fit that theme. Chaos’ paradewas about schools, Muses —mylongtime krewe, in the interest of full disclosure —was based on mysteries, and d’Etat’s was about all things space. For one float, Chaos leaned intothe extreme flattery that Trump demands, and gets, from his cabinet members andother allies. Afloat called “Teacher’sPets” featured Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbardholdinga pitcher of Kool-Aid and Louisiana’sown extremely compliant House Speaker Mike Johnson, pictured preparing to kiss acertain presidential body part Thekrewe’s“Snack Time”float had RFKJr. drinking raw milk

D’Etat had an immigration-themed float called “E.T., go home,” which satirized alleged abuses byimmigrants more than the very controversial crackdown. The krewe’s “Media Shower”—asopposed to meteor shower float focused on the end of public fundingfor PBS and talk show hosts that Trump has targeted, including Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Chaos had asimilar float inspired by Sesame Street, called “Class Dismissed.” Muses, meanwhile,aimed itsmedia commentary in adifferentdirection “Hush, Hush, Fox News,” itsfloat was titled. Like Chaosand d’Etat, Musesalso focused on some of the controversies of Trump’sfirst year back. It had afloat about the mass firings of government workers by Elon Musk’sDOGE, called

“And Then There Were None.” Another Muses ﬂoat was based on the X-Files, but it was the “Eps Files”—asinEpstein.Rifﬁng on the1990s TV show’s signature line, “The truthisout there,” thekrewe added: “But you ain’tgetting it.”

Of course, Trumphimself —his likeness,anyway —did makeafew appearances on theavenue, including in d’Etat’ssolar system-themed “Gas Giant” float. Muses just went with the top of hishead, which showed up on the otherwise elegant float modeled on the White Lotus’ lush opening graphics. “The Orange POTUS” float said simply: “Karma comesfor everyone. Likealways, this year’ssatirists didn’tjust aim their pens at Washington, but also skewered those much closer to home This was probably thelast real chance to comment on former Mayor LaToya Cantrell’stravails —depending on what happens at her upcoming federal trial, that is —and boy did they Chaos’ Cantrell float was called “No Class,” and pictured her and her formerbodyguard and now co-defendant posed like that couple who got caught on camera together at aColdplay concert. D’Etat’swas called “Probe” —if yousaw it,you got theidea. Museshad Cantrell in aNixonian stance on its “Gone Girl” float,saying, “You won’t have Teedy to kick around anymore.” Gov.Jeff Landry got off relatively easy,although d’Etat did ridicule his Greenlandadventure on “Bayou Hoth.”

Maybe it was “to easy,LOL,” as they say, but all three krewes targeted the mass Orleans Parishprison break back in May.Muses had “Escape Room OPP,”d’Etat offered up “Escape Pod” andChaos called its version “Spring Break.” As always, there were plenty of ﬂoats

inspired by the challenges of simply living here once all the Carnival fun is over.D’Etat’sfloat about bad services at City Hall was called “No OneCan Hear YouScream.” Muses had afloat about traffic; instead of “Murder on the OrientExpress,” it was “Martyr on the Westbank Expressway ”

Another perennial target is thearea’s pro sportsfranchises, where years of floatsdepicting glory are but adistant memory—with theobvious exception of Bacchus, which skips satire but offered plenty of nostalgia in 2026 by bringing back newly-minted Hall of Famer Drew Brees Otherwise, neither theSaints nor the Pelicansgot any love. D’Etat featured top exec Mickey Loomis on its “The Wrong Stuff” float,and Chaos went with owner Gayle Benson on “Flunked Out.” Muses zeroed in on basketball this year with its “The Pelicans, Briefly” float, about how theNBA team’s best hopes always wind up leaving New Orleans. Of course, not all satire is meantto be biting. In fact,sometimes it’sdownright affectionate. Case in point: Muses paid tribute to PopeLeo’slocal roots, and all the people here who have combed their family trees hoping to find afamiliar connection.Instead of The DaVinci Code, it was “Da Vatican Code.” The krewe also honored thepublisher of the popular Mardi Gras Guide, who’s retiring after 50 years. So instead of theHardy Boys, we had “The Arthur Hardy Boys” solving the“King Cake Capers.” Personally,Iwould have gone with “The Case of theDelayed Parade.” On theother hand, that’sprobably a mystery that no detective can unravel Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

COLUMBIA, S.C. —South Carolina continues to seize national attention in surprising —and not-so-surprising —ways. As to the former,the Palmetto State is the fastest-growing state in the country at atimewhen it has the nation’sbiggest measles outbreak, owing in part to religious objections to vaccines. Go figure. The rapid population growth, driven by affordability,job availability and climate, is statewide, judging from all the insta-developments along highways from the Upstate to the Lowcountry The measles outbreak is concentrated in the Upstate, aregion in the northwestern part of South Carolina, specifically in Spartanburg County,the center of which is Spartanburg. The city of roughly 40,000 is in what wasknownas “Bob Jones Country,” referring to the namesake evangelical Christian university in nearby Greenville. It’s achurchgoing, family town. This leads us to the not-so-surprising part. Suffice to say,when religion and science butt heads in the DeepSouth, you can confidently bet on God.

The area of the county where measles has found ahome —876 cases and counting —offers public, charter and private schools, and Pentecostal and fundamentalist churches where the Bible is interpreted literally.Never mind that the Bible doesn’tmention measles vaccines; religious conviction is partly responsible forthe decision of fartoo manyresidents to put their children and families at risk. Some schools have vaccination rates as low as 20%.

Last year,10% of Spartanburg County school students —nearly 6,000 children —got exemptions from vaccination rules or did not meet certain requirements. Of Spartanburg County students, about 8% had religious exemptions, which are easy to come by.The state requires only anotarized request but no doctor’sor preacher’simprimatur Anti-vaccine messaging from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who hassaid no vaccinesare safeand effective, hasled to mixedmessages aboutthe MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Kennedy has said the vaccine is the best way to ward offthe viruses while also casting doubt on its safety.Many in the antivaccine community are convinced that the vaccine causes autism, adebunked Kennedy claim. They are also concerned that the vaccine contains fetal cells —orthat they have “a lot of aborted fetus debris,” in Kennedy’swords. Moral objections to abortion have fueled the fetal-cell debate in recent years. There’s aspeck of truth to Kennedy’sobscene statementbut only in the mosttangential way. Put another way,it’sinaccurate. Kennedy hath neither shamenor expertise. His pharmaceutical background and training can be traced to ayearslong heroin addiction. Otherwise, his last nameisKennedy,which President Donald Trumpseemingly can’tresist forits cachet, associated wealth and performing arts center Trumpput his namebefore John F. Kennedy’s and placed the late president’snephew in charge of the nation’shealth.

Ashort primer on the vaccine Kennedy has sownconfusion about: Each of the three viruses in the MMR vaccine is created separately.The viruses are grownincultured cells, which are puriﬁed to remove cellular material.

The measles virus is growninchick embryo cell cultures, not fetal cells. But cell lines used to produce rubella, among other viruses, do come from fetal cells procured from two elective abortions performed in the early 1960s in Europe. Cells, or rather fetal ﬁbroblast cell lines, weretaken from the ill-fated fetuses once, and every MMR vaccine since has been created from those samecells.

While manyChristians and others abhor using fetal material forany reason, the ultimate theological take on the issue comes not from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Benton), whorecently tried to school Pope Leo XIV about the Bible’sstance on immigration, but from the Vatican. While still condemning fetal stem cell research, the Vatican has said that Catholic moral theology allows vaccines from those cell lines if no other alternatives exist.

It is, indeed, odd to be wading through these discussions in the 21st century,but stranger things happen often these days, not least in South Carolina. Even so, those whocall this state homewould rather live here than anywhere else and, apparently,sowould everybody else. Just please, before you cross the state line, be sure to get your shots. All of them. If you insist on joining the human deluge heading this way,you’re going to need them

Email Kathleen Parker at kathleenparker@ washpost.com.

Kathleen Parker

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Muses had a float about the mass firingsofgovernment workers by Elon Musk’s DOGE,called ‘And Then There Were None.’

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Ato-do list for the U.S. featuresVenezuela, Greenland,Cuba, and Iran on the side of a floatinthe KnightsofChaos parade in NewOrleans on Feb.12

Stephanie Grace

Zulu,Argus royaltymeetin Kenner forLundi Gras event

BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer

As akid, Ronald Tassin celebrated LundiGraswith his family in Kenner

On Monday,the Jefferson Parish native returned, this time as King Zulu.

“Look at me now,” said Tassin, standing alongside royalty from the krewesof Argus and Zulu at their annualmeeting in Kenner’s Historic Rivertown.

“I’m telling all the young ones in here: ‘Dreams do come true,’”headded.

On the eve of their respective reigns over the premiere parades in NewOrleans and Metairie, royalty from the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and the Krewe of Argus gathered in Kenner to exchange gifts, parade through the street and receive proclamations from Kenner’selected leaders. The annual meeting be-

FESTIVAL

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The 40th Festival International de Louisianewill take place in downtown Lafayette from April 22 to 26. Here are the artists who will be showcased on festival stages this year: n Stephen Marley,Jamaica n Rhiannon Giddens, United States n Cimafunk, Cuba n Delgres, France/Guadeloupe n Natu Camara, Guinea n Givers, Louisiana n Nomfusi, South Africa n LasCafeteras, United States/Mexico n ZacharyRichard,Louisiana n Doctor Nativo, Guatemala

tweenArgus,a kreweestablishedin1972bycivicminded Jefferson Parish business owners, and Zulu, founded in 1909 and wellestablished as one of the biggest krewes in thecity, beganin1999 to honor that year’sZuluKing, aKenner resident.

It’s grown into acherished tradition.

Zulu President OscarRaymond said the event shows “what unity meansand what MardiGras stands for.”

Monday’scelebrationbeganwith aceremony at The Crossing eventvenuein Kenner’sRivertown, where royalty offeredbrief remarks and traded gifts. Argus giftedtwo hand-painted bottles of Champagne, while Zulu gifted coconuts, theofﬁcial Zulu poster andbeads “I hope to seeyou allon thestreets tomorrowfor Mardi Gras Day and Iwill getyou acoconut— hopefully,” Queen Zulu Sharell

n Country Gongbang, SouthKorea n Sonny Landreth, Louisiana n Vieux Farka Touré, Mali n SubatomicSoundsystem, Screechy Dan, Norwood Fisher,Jamaica/United States n Chris Ardoin &Zydeco Nu-Step,Louisiana n Sally Baby’sSilverDollars, Louisiana n Novalima, Peru n Vishten, Prince Edward Island n Silver Birds Steel Orchestra, Jamaica n Thomé Young, New Brunswick n Slap Dragon with Scott Mulvahill, Tennessee n Breabach, Scotland n Sinkane, Sudan n Karma and theKilljoys, Louisiana n Steve Riley &the MamouPlayboys, Louisiana

Monique Chatman, alifelong resident of Jefferson Parish andanengineer in parish government,told the crowd.

TheZuluroyalty were joined by King Argus David Haydel Jr., co-owner of Haydel’sBakery,and Queen Argus Callie Langhetee, a senior at Academy of Sacred Heart.

The pair of royals then handedout beadsasthey walked down Williams Boulevard, trailing Bonnabel High School’sBruin Band and itsroyal court before turning intoaparking lot filled with spectators and food vendors.

“Stop by Zulu in themorning. Comesee us in the afternoon!”Haydel told the crowd.

Kenner officialstook turns reading out proclamations to each of the royals. Kenner Mayor Michael Glaser concludedthe ceremony with aceremonial toast.

n Nathan &the Zydeco Cha Chas, Louisiana n Jourdan Thibodeauxet Les Rôdailleurs, Louisiana n Rusty Metoyer &the Zydeco Krush, Louisiana n Jacques Surette, Nova Scotia n Boma Bango,Democratic Republic of the Congo/Colombia/Louisiana n Beauséjour, New Brunswick

n DustinDale Gaspard, Louisiana n CoreyLedet Zydeco & Black Magic, Louisiana

n Prends Courage, Louisiana

n Mathieu Lippé, Quebec n Soul Express Brass Band, Louisiana n Amis du Teche, Louisiana n Dwight James &the Royals, Louisiana n Mike Dopsie &Zydeco Entourage, Louisiana

for theFeb.24Pelicans

RISHER

Continued from page1B

Charlene Hibbs, who invited me to the practice, says dancingagain is about connection —with longtime friends and with apart of herself that never left. For Hibbs, it really comes down to joy

“After decades as adance teacher,the joy of performing again and sharing it with my teammates takes me back,” Hibbs said.

She says the thrill of stepping onto the court in her 60s reminds her of stepping onto the Saints’ ﬁeld when she was in her 20s.

Celeste Pfefferle saidthe crowd always takes asec-

STORM

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providing minor tree damage to the area. Aseparate nearby EF1 tornado damaged several trees and destroyed one home. In Port BarreinSt. Landry Parish, an EF1 tornado fell around 10 p.m.,traveling

ond to warm up. “You never know which move it’sgonna be,” she said. “But there’samove thatsets them off, and they go crazy.And then you’re lucky if youcan hear the music because they’re into it.”

When Sharon McCoy told me that she had to get the moves just right or hear about it from her daughter, we laughed together.Even though we had just met, we recognized the shared knowledge of motherdaughter dynamics.

Rehearsing with the group made me appreciate the subtle rebellion of 27 seniors learning choreography to Flo Rida on aSaturday morning in Metairie. Theyhave careers behind

about three-quarters of a mile, damaging several buildings and causing tree damage. Therewas significant destruction along La. 741 in Port Barre. Accordingtoreports,the winds ripped sheet metal roofing from homes, destroyed outbuildings and flipped a pontoon boat and ahorse trailer

Continuedfrom page 1B

Lafayette Memories Facebook page thatahospital scene was ﬁlmedatamotel off Cajundome Boulevard and Cameron Street in Lafayette and that she metFawcett whileshe was in town ﬁlming.

FawcettvisitedCraig Guilbeaux’s restaurant two nightsinarow,herecalled, and signed amenu for him.

Some scenes were shot near Beau CheneHigh School in Prairie Basse near Arnaudville. AccordingtoWillieVincent Sr asceneearlyinthe ﬁlm withacar upside down in apasture was filmed across from theschool, while Sarah Breaux recalledsome working on the film ate lunchinthe school cafeteria.

Vincentsaid some scenes were ﬁlmed at his grandfather’s old store in Breaux Bridge,which later became Charlie Ts. Otherlocals recall seeing Duvall alone at Down-

n Blue Monday Allstars

Celebrates Lee AllenZeno, Louisiana

n KC Jones, Louisiana

n The Revelers, Louisiana n Geno Delafose &French Rockin’Boogie, Louisiana n Bonsoir, Catin,Louisiana n PrimeraLinea, Cuba n Krewe de Canailles, Louisiana n Bas Clas, Louisiana n SideQuest with Gino V. and Zach Edwards, Louisiana n The Amazing Nuns, Louisiana n Beau Cheval, Louisiana n Cashier,Louisiana n SOLA ViolinsInternational Fiddle Summit n Acadiana Symphony YouthOrchestra, Louisiana n Michael Juan Nunez, Louisiana n Yvette Landry Trio, Louisiana

townAlive as wellasat Mulate’sRestaurantin Breaux Bridge. TheOscar-winning actor,whose classic roles also includedthe intrepid consigliere of the ﬁrst two “Godfather” movies and the over-the-hill country music singerin“Tender Mercies,”died“peacefully” at his homeSunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from astatement posted on his Facebook page by hiswife, Luciana Duvall.

“Tothe world, he wasan AcademyAward-winning actor,adirector,astoryteller. To me, he was simply everything,”Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion forhis craft was matched only by his deep love for characters,a greatmeal, andholding court. For each of his many roles, Bobgaveeverythingto his characters and to the truthofthe humanspirit they represented.”

Contact ClaireTaylor at ctaylor@theadvocate. com.

n School of Rock Lafayette n Mike Dean Band, Louisiana

n Voices of Progressive Gospel Choir,Louisiana n Performing Arts Conservatory,Louisiana

n The BabineauxSisters, Louisiana

n Battle of the Bands: 2nd place(Dinger) and1st place (5AM)

n Lafayette Lion Dance n NewNativesBrass Band, Louisiana n Dragon KnightsStilt Show,France/United States

n F.I.R.E. Expressions, Louisiana

n Burke Riley Trio, Louisiana n French Immersion Student Performance.

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

them, adult children, grandchildren and decades of life experience. And yetonce amonth, at halftime, they step ontothe court at the Smoothie King Center and wait for the crowd to join theminappreciating the rhythm. In their practice studio, despite my weak “tootsie roll” efforts, Ifelt right at home. Not because Ikept up. But because theydid. Five, six, seven, eight. The Early Birds are scheduled to perform at the Feb. 24 Pelicans game against the Golden State Warriors at the Smoothie King Center

EmailJan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

No injuries or fatalities were reported.

LOTTERY

SUNDAY,FEB.15, 2026

PICK 3: 8-7-0

PICK 4: 2-8-2-9

PICK 5: 0-8-4-0-7 Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER

Early Birds dancers learntheir newroutine

halftime show.

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL athletics has lost oneofits most legendary sports ﬁgures.

Three-time All-American basketball player Dwight “Bo” Lamar,74, died Sunday evening in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, after alengthy illness.

“Legend” is often used todescribe former players and coaches,but it’snot an

BY TOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

Coach Matt McMahon didn’t have fourplayers available for LSU’s10-point loss at Tennessee on Saturday in yetanother instance of the Tigers being far from fully health in his fourth seasoninBaton Rouge.

Saturday’s game markedthe ﬁrst time this season McMahon had that many players scratched from a game. The newest additionstothe list of injured players were depth guard Ron Zipper,who is in concussion protocol, and starting guard Max Mackinnon,who injuredhis knee during

exaggeration when it comes to Lamar and the teams he played for at then-Southwestern Louisiana.

Thosewho witnessedLamar’s performances from 1969-73 will never forget or cease trying to describe what they witnessed.

“He was our Pistol,” said Lou Hebert, who attended the collegeduring Lamar’s playing days. “It was as simple as that. I know AndrewToney was an incredible

pro, incredible player, but Bo lit this place up.” Thenumbers certainly support Hebert’smemory.

LSUlegend “Pistol” Pete Maravich is still theNCAA’sall-time scoring leader with 3,667 points. Until Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis reached 3,664 points from 2018-23, next on that list was Lamar’s

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Theﬁrst two tournamentweekends for the UL softball team left two very different impressions.

Thehitting wasonﬁre through the Louisiana Classic weekend but the pitching waslacking.

ä UL at FloridaState, 5P.M.TUESDAy,ACCN

At theRagin’ Cajuns Invitational last weekend, the pitching was greatly improved while the hitting was up and down before a23run explosion in the ﬁnal gameSunday The Ragin’ Cajuns (6-3) will need the best of both worlds at 5p.m.Tuesday when they challenge No. 6Florida State (8-2) in Tallahassee, Florida.

“Everything starts in thecircle, so yes, it wasveryencouraging to see,” UL coach Alyson Habetz said about the UL pitching.

Sage Hoover (2-1, 4.96 ERA) looked way more in command. Lexie Delbrey (1-0, 2.74) pitched confidently.Even in Saturday’sdisappointing 6-5lossto Prairie View,DelbreypersuadedHabetz to let her pitch despite an umpire calling only low strikes.

“It just looked like Lexie shifted gears and was just going after people,” Habetz said. “That’swhatweneed from her.”

Julianne Tipton (2-0, 2.33) kept up her hot start, and true freshman BaileyMackles(0-2, 6.68) showed herpotential. Mackles has walked eight in 71/3 innings,but opponentshit only .200 against her,sothe stuff is there.

When Habetz was asked during apreseason newsconference what she was themostconfident withentering the season, her answer was the defense. So far this season, it’sbeen really good but it’sstill not aﬁnished product.

“Defensively,wehad to makesome, just some changes, like,playingfurther back to catch those little duck snorts that are just right over your head,” Habetz said.

Elevated effort every day is what Habetz is demanding.

“Sometimesjust too timid,” shesaid “I know it’sa growing process, but I want aggressive, all-out players all the time. Thatdoesn’tchange —hustling all the time, aggressive, creating chaos and just playing the game hard. That’sthe expectation here.”

The jury is still out on the offense. One thing is for sure, the lineup has much more popwith 15 homers so far— just seven short from all of last season.

Newcomers such as Haley Hart (.481, 3HRs,12RBIs) andLily Knox (.450, 2

Blowing a10-3 lead going into the eighth inning is notideal for abaseball team. If not for that, UL coach Matt Deggs knows his Ragin’ Cajuns would be coming off of aseries victory against Missouri State during theﬁrst weekend of the season. As it is, theCajuns created a littlemomentum with Sunday’s 9-7 win heading into a6:35 p.m. Tuesday road game againstRice at Reckling Park in Houston.

“Wewere down4-2 going to the ninthonFriday,and then we take thelead going into theninth Saturdayand Sunday,”Deggs said. “We’ve gottofinish those two games.” Thegood news is the offense posted 23 runs in the three games by playing the“pack” baseball approach Deggs lovesmost, which is filled with advancing base runnersand utilizing speed and small ball.

“I thought we were going to be pretty good at playing pack baseball,and Ithink we showed that over the course of the weekend,” Deggs said. “A bigfocus forus was the ability to respond coming off last season.”

While the UL bullpen struggled at times, the twoinnings thrown by 6-foot-7 freshman right-hander Sawyer Pruitt wasencouraging.

“I’d like to see him go out there and pitch forawhile,” Deggs said. “Not to put any pressure on Sawyer,but Ithink you’re going to seehim Tuesdayand then, Idon’tknow, he maymakea move. We’ll see. Sawyer’sgot a chance to be afrontline guy.” He’llface ared-hotRiceoffenseled by JC Davis, whohit .636 with three homers during thefirst weekend. The Owls beat Northwestern 7-6 and 3-2 over the weekend before losing the ﬁnale 17-6.

Perhaps the biggest question to answer in the next few weeks forUListhe outﬁeld rotation. UL lookstoimprove on ﬁnishing

ä See UL BASEBALL, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK

guard Dedan Thomas, left, and forward Jalen Reed chat on the court beforetipoff against Kentucky on Jan. 14 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

Top five remain unchanged

UConn coach Auriemma ties

VanDerveer for most appearances in poll

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

Geno Auriemma tied Tara VanDerveer for most appearances in the AP women’s basketball Top 25 poll when UConn remained No. 1 on Monday Auriemma has led the Huskies to 654 appearances in the poll during his 41-year Hall of Fame career to match VanDerveer, who retired from Stanford in 2024 UConn has been ranked for the past 621 consecutive weeks, dating to the preseason 1993-94 poll, and once again was a unanimous choice at No. 1 from the 31-member national media panel. Monday was the 900th poll in the 50-year history of the rankings. UCLA and South Carolina remained second and third behind the Huskies. Texas and Vanderbilt were next as the top ﬁve remained unchanged from a week earlier. The Commodores beat the Longhorns last week before losing to Georgia on Sunday Michigan, LSU and Louisville were next. Duke moved back into the top 10 at No. 9 as the Blue Devils are riding a 16-game winning streak after beating rival North Carolina on Sunday Ohio State dropped two places to 10th after losing to Maryland on Sunday The Terrapins jumped up six spots to 14th.

In and out

Minnesota entered the Top 25 for the ﬁrst time this season as the Golden Gophers came in at No. 23. They have an eight-game winning streak but a difﬁcult week ahead with games against Ohio State and No. 18 Michigan State. Minnesota was ranked for two weeks last season. Georgia also came back into the rankings this week, appearing at No. 24 after its win over Vanderbilt. Princeton and Washington fell out of the poll.

Conference supremacy

The SEC remained the top conference with 10 teams in the poll.

The Big Ten is next with seven.

The Big 12 has four teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference has three and the Big East one.

Games of the week

No 6 Michigan at No 13 Iowa, Sunday — A ﬁght for second place in the Big Ten as the Wolverines and Hawkeyes are a game apart in the loss column in the conference standings, trailing UCLA. The Hawkeyes beat Nebraska in

a matinee Monday No. 7 LSU at No. 17 Mississippi, Thursday — A key SEC matchup with the Tigers looking to rebound from a loss to South Carolina. The Rebels have a busy week with games against Tennessee, LSU and South Carolina this week.

Michigan No. 1 for ﬁrst time in over a decade

Wolverines on top for first time in 13 years, ending Arizona’s nine-week reign

BY AARON BEARD AP basketball writer

Michigan is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the ﬁrst time in 13 years, ending Arizona’s nine-week reign.

The Wolverines (24-1) claimed 60 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to climb one spot and supplant the Wildcats, who were unbeaten entering last week before falling at Kansas and at home to Texas Tech “Not much,” coach Dusty May said when asked by the AP after Saturday’s rout of UCLA about the significance of potentially topping the poll “It means we haven’t drank our own Kool-Aid We’ve put ourselves in a position to be playing the types of games in midFebruary that we want to be in, but we’ve got to continue to improve.” Michigan had been ranked No. 2 behind Arizona for six of Arizona’s nine weeks at the top but was No. 1 in analytics rankings by KenPom, Evan Miyakawa and Bart Torvik last week. Now the Wolverines have their first AP No. 1 ranking since January 2013. Houston and Duke each moved up one spot to sit behind Michigan, with the second-ranked Cougars claiming the remaining first-place vote. The Wolverines and Blue Devils are set to meet this weekend in a marquee nonconference matchup in the nation’s capital. Arizona dropped three spots to No. 4. UConn was next at No. 5, followed by Iowa State, Purdue, Kansas, Nebraska and Illinois to round out the top 10.

Rising The seventh-ranked Boilermakers jumped six spots for the week’s biggest leap, coming after an overtime win at Nebraska and a win at Iowa. The preseason No. 1 has won four straight entering Tuesday’s visit from Michigan.

No. 13 Texas Tech rose three

spots after its home win against Colorado followed by the OT win at Arizona. As did No. 21 Louisville, with freshman Mikel Brown starring with an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman-record 45 points in a win against N.C. State and 29 more in a win against Baylor

Sliding No. 15 Michigan State and No. 16 North Carolina had the week’s biggest tumbles of ﬁve spots. The Spartans lost at Wisconsin on Friday, while the Tar Heels lost at Miami while also learning that star freshman Caleb Wilson is out indeﬁnitely with a fractured bone in his left hand. Seven ranked teams fell from last week’s position.

Quick turnaround for Badgers

Wisconsin returned to the poll, going from receiving no votes last week to No. 24 after back-to-back wins against top-10 opponents Illinois and Michigan State last week.

Wisconsin previously had fallen out of the poll after a Nov 21 loss to BYU as the Badgers struggled through a 7-4 start. Last week’s

wins, along with being the only team to take down Michigan, has the Badgers alongside the Red Raiders as the only teams with victories against three top-10 teams this year

“Early in the year we were soft mentally and physically,” coach Greg Gard said after the 92-71 win against the Spartans “We had to mature, had to grow up collectively and individually You’re not going to be able to compete in these types of games in the upper echelon of this league if you’re not physically and mentally tough. This group has responded.”

Comings and goings

No. 25 Alabama joined Wisconsin as the week’s new additions after the Crimson Tide pushed to a fourgame winning streak. They replaced Clemson (No. 20) and Kentucky (No. 25) in the poll. Conference watch

The Big 12 and Big Ten dominated the top of the poll while tying with a national-best six ranked teams. Those two leagues combined to have eight spots in the top

Dolphins release receiver Hill in major roster cuts

MIAMI GARDENS,Fla.— The Dolphins are releasing star receiver Tyreek Hill ending the All-Pro’s four-year tenure in Miami, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Monday Hill, who turns 32 on March 1, is recovering from a season-ending injury suffered in a game against the New York Jets on Sept. 29 that required surgery to repair signiﬁcant damage to his left knee. It is one of several major roster cuts the Dolphins made on Monday morning, the person said, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team had not made any announcements. Miami also will release two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Bradley Chubb and cut offensive lineman James Daniels and receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, the person said.

Browns safety Hickman assaulted in hotel lobby

NEW YORK — Cleveland Browns safety Ronnie Hickman was treated for minor injuries and released, the team said on Monday after New York police received reports that he was jumped by four men in a hotel lobby

The Browns said Hickman, 24, was at home resting with his family There have been no arrests and an investigation continues, according to a statement from the New York Police Department.

Authorities said they responded to a 911 call at 4:35 a.m. Monday reporting an assault in a hotel lobby

“Upon arrival, ofﬁcers were informed that four unidentiﬁed individuals punched a 24-year-old male about the body following a verbal dispute,” police said.

Celtics’ Brown disputes claims about event permit

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown disputed the city of Beverly Hills’ claims after an event he hosted on the eve of the NBA All-Star Game was shut down because the city said it lacked a permit.

“I’m offended by Beverly Hills, by the statement they put out, like we applied for something and didn’t get it, and we did it anyway (and) we were insubordinate,” Brown told ESPN on Sunday. “I know how to follow the rules. I’m smart enough to follow the guidelines.” Hours earlier, Beverly Hills released a statement to The Boston Globe, saying it rejected a permit. The event promoting Brown’s performance brand, 741, was held at Oakley founder Jim Jannard’s home.

Trout wants to return to center field for Angels

TEMPE, Ariz. — Mike Trout says he would prefer to return to center field for the Los Angeles Angels, and the star slugger says he will skip the World Baseball Classic because of insurance issues.

The 11-time All-Star who has been plagued by injuries since 2021 says his familiar position isn’t as physically demanding as the corner outﬁeld spots, contrary to traditional thinking.

Trout played his most games since 2019 last season, finishing at 130. The three-time American League MVP started 22 of his ﬁrst 29 games in right ﬁeld before a knee injury sidelined him for a month.

Trout had 26 home runs but hit just .232, by far the worst average of his career when he had at least 400 at-bats.

Twins starter López ends bullpen session early FORT MYERS Fla Minnesota Twins right-hander Pablo López ended a bullpen session early on Monday over what manager Derek Shelton said was “a little bit of elbow soreness.”

López, who turns 30 next month, threw two-plus innings before shutting things down. He was considered ahead of schedule in preparations to join Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic.

López has been the opening day starter for the Twins the past three seasons. He was limited to 75 2/3 innings last year, with three stints on the injured list for hamstring, shoulder and forearm issues.

The 2023 All-Star had made 32 starts in each season from 202224, the ﬁrst of those with Miami before a pair with Minnesota.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JESSIE ALCHEH UCLA guard Kiki Rice drives to the basket during a game on Sunday in Los Angeles.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LON HORWEDEL

Michigan players, from left, Malick Kordel, Aday Mara, Morez Johnson

After suing NASCAR, Jordan in victory lane

BY JENNA FRYER AP auto racing writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Michael Jor-

dan inherited the racing bug from his late father, who routinely packed everyone into the car and drove from North Carolina to a handful of tracks every year as attending NASCAR races became Jordan family vacations Decades later, Jordan is now a Daytona 500 winner

He was an ecstatic team owner during the victory celebration, which he joined seconds before winner Tyler Reddick was presented the trophy Sunday Reddick paused the party and was enveloped in Jordan’s arms before the Basketball Hall of Famer gave high-ﬁves to the No. 45 crew from 23XI Racing. A stream of well-wishers soon followed, including NASCAR chairman Jim France, who warmly congratulated Jordan with a smile and a handshake. It was at least the second cordial public interaction the two have shared since December, when France and NASCAR settled the federal antitrust lawsuit that 23XI and Front Row Motorsports had lodged. The lawsuit consumed the sport for more than two years and ended on the ninth day of trial when NASCAR relented and settled before the top motorsports series in the United States suffered any more humiliation The settlement was a huge win for

Jordan, who forever will be viewed as the team owner bold enough to stand up to NASCAR’s dictatorship way of ruling the series But that was already behind Jordan by the time he got to Daytona International Speedway, where he started Sunday by insisting the goal was to help grow NASCAR moving forward and focus on making 23XI a championship-contending race team

“Both sides have been somewhat at a stalemate and we both needed to have conversations about change, how we can grow this sport,” Jordan told Fox Sports before the green ﬂag. “Unfortunately, we had to go through what we had to go through. But I think coming out of that, you have a much better appreciation for each other, and I think it opens up conversations amongst each other to continue to grow the game.

Hours later, he was in victory lane celebrating as if he’d just won a seventh NBA championship. When France stopped by, it was clear all parties are moving forward.

Denny Hamlin, the three-time Daytona 500 winner who is partners with Jordan at 23XI, was the winning team owner representative in post-victory requirements and said there are no lingering bad feelings among the parties.

“I think December was a wake-up call. I think that the conversations since then have been a lot of self-reﬂection, in my opinion, from NASCAR. I think they would have done

23XI Racing owner Michael Jordan,

the Daytona 500 at Daytona International

win for 23XI Racing

things differently had they had the opportunity to,” Hamlin said. “But we knew that we needed to stick up for what we believed was right. We have to now ﬁgure out how we can get the sport back where it was decades ago.

“In order to do that, the only way we can do it is we’re all going to have to pull the rope in the same direction. Even conversations that I’ve had with NASCAR executives as late as a couple days ago, sitting in a bus talking about what do we

NBA All-Star weekend setup allows for closer competition

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — If you still didn’t like the NBA’s newest All-Star Game format, you probably just don’t like All-Star games

That seemed to be the sports sphere’s consensus after the U.S.against-the-world, round-robin tournament Sunday produced three thrilling mini-games and several impressive individual performances. Something about the setup compelled these stars to play their exhibition at a level much closer to real competition than usual.

“I think every team honestly wanted to win,” said Phoenix guard Devin Booker, a member of the victorious Stars team.

That’s no small statement about an event that had become sports shorthand for pointless midseason pseudo-competition — a charade that wasted fans’ time and produced unwatchable TV while players simply tried to get it over with.

That’s precisely why the NBA implemented its fourth format in four years, creating a World team and two teams of Americans to play 12-minute games.

To the surprise of those who assumed this event was irredeemable, it actually worked for most people.

“I’ve been asking for it, fans have been asking for it, media have been asking for it, (and) I feel that after today, I think you all can see the competition is there,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I think that we all brought it today, brought a sense of effort. I hope that the fans and all of you appreciate it.”

An Americans-versus-everybody ﬁnale didn’t materialize, however Instead, the team of slightly younger Americans routed the team of slightly older Americans in an anticlimactic ﬁnale.

Even that finish had its entertaining points, though: “We’re definitely one-up on the uncs right now,” said a grinning Tyrese Maxey, who scored nine points in the final.

The NBA hasn’t declared a format for next year’s All-Star Game in Phoenix, and the World component has potential problems depending on how many international players are having All-Star-worthy seasons. Several players, including LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, said they still want a return to the classic East vs. West format — you know, the one that produced enough bad games to force the NBA to try something different in the first place. It’s tough to imagine basketball in its current state producing an All-Star Game signiﬁcantly better than this one, but not everything about the All-Star weekend at Intuit Dome was savory

The highs and lows of an eventful weekend in Inglewood: Dismal dunks

Just when the NBA might have its All-Star Game ﬁxed, the Slam Dunk Contest was underwhelming

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAE C. HONG

USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, center, dribbles between World guard Jamal Murray, left, and forward Alperen Sengun during the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.

enough to prompt fan discussion on how to save a venerable competition that’s running out of steam.

The event immortalized by the likes of Julius Erving, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant was mostly compelling for bad reasons this year, although Miami’s Keshad Johnson did well enough to join 3-Point Contest champion Damian Lillard in an all-Oakland sweep of the two marquee events at All-Star

Saturday

In the early round, Lakers center Jaxson Hayes gave an effort that drew online criticism from his own fans Orlando’s Jase Richardson took a horrifying fall onto his back and head when his arm hit the backboard on a 360-degree spin attempt. Richardson was OK, but the frightening moment underscored the dangers of this event.

Johnson won anticlimactically when San Antonio’s Carter Bryant couldn’t complete an impressive second dunk after scoring a perfect 50 on his ﬁrst.

Can the NBA persuade star players to return to the contest? Can the dunkers rediscover the creativity that compelled Blake Grifﬁn to jump over a car, Gerald Green to blow out a cupcake candle on the rim, Dwight Howard to put on a cape and Vince Carter to stick his whole arm in the hoop?

That’s no slam dunk.

Kawhi’s barrage

Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points in 12 minutes while leading his team to victory in Sunday’s third mini-game. The seven-time AllStar went 11 of 13 with six 3-pointers, dazzling his fellow All-Stars and even prompting 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama to attempt to guard him out of desperation.

“That’s probably one of the most special quarters of basketball we’ve witnessed,” Booker said. If Leonard’s team had put up more of a fight in the finale, he probably would have been the MVP instead of Anthony Edwards. Leon-

ard scored only one point, looking gassed along with his teammates in their third straight game

“That’s what the home crowd wanted to see,” Leonard said. “I’m glad I was able to do something in that game.”

Dame’s dominance

During his year away from the game due to injury Lillard reminded the world why he’s one of the greatest shooters of his generation with a stellar performance to win the 3-Point Contest for the third time. He joins Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to do it.

The 35-year-old Portland guard held off Booker in the tremendously exciting ﬁnal, winning 29-27 when Booker missed his ﬁnal three shots.

Lillard tore his Achilles tendon last April, and his inclusion in this contest initially began as a joke he had with an NBA ofﬁcial — but the native Californian got the call, and he was healthy enough to shoot the lights out in Inglewood

His performance was another example of an impressive comeback from that serious injury Jayson Tatum, who also tore his Achilles tendon in last spring’s playoffs, is back in practice with Boston’s G League team.

After watching Lillard’s performance, Stephen Curry announced he’s going to compete in 2027, and he’s hoping to be joined by his Splash Brother, Klay Thompson.

Afternoon hoops

The All-Star events Saturday and Sunday began at 2 p.m. Paciﬁc time because NBC is showing the Winter Olympics in prime time every night. That led to empty seats in Intuit Dome at the start of both events, although they eventually ﬁlled in. The early starts also muted the bigevent feeling for fans and viewers who might have missed the show entirely if they didn’t check the TV listings.

need to be ﬁve years from now, two years from now, 10 years from now What does the sport need to look like?

“Those were all really good conversations, and they were very open to suggestions.”

Jordan didn’t become a NASCAR participant until 2021, when he partnered with Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, to form 23XI. He attends races sometimes he watches from pit road, other times a suite and although others run

the team, Jordan is involved and sounds committed to NASCAR. The Reddick win was a win for NASCAR, Hamlin argued, because it got Jordan into the headlines.

“It’s big for the sport. He’s the most popular athlete in the world. I don’t think there’s any disputing that,” Hamlin said “He loves the sport, and certainly he goes to a lot of races. Sometimes you don’t even see him and he’s there. He makes more races than people know He loves this race team.”

UL SOFTBALL

Continued from page 1C

HRs, 10 RBIs) have delivered as advertised. Sophomore catcher Kennedy Marceaux (.333, 2 HRs, 9 RBIs) also is coming through with clutch at-bats.

“Kennedy’s two-out RBIs have been fantastic,” Habetz agreed.

“She’s really playing well.”

There have been ﬂashes from the first-base tandem of Madyson Manning (.286, 1 HR, 6 RBIs) and Emily Smith (.208, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs), but that duo ﬁnding a stride is critical for UL to beat the better teams on the schedule.

Returning players such as Dayzja Williams (.435, 3 RBIs, 2 SBs) and Mia Liscano (.409, 3

RBIs, 7 SBs) have shown progress, and Cecilia Vasquez (.333) looked sharp after missing the entire ﬁrst weekend.

“We’ve showed the ability to be resilient,” Habetz said “That’s great to see, but I’d also like to see our hitters start to make the necessary adjustments quicker in games.”

Florida State has one of the nation’s elite pitchers in Jazzy Francik (5-0, 1.04 ERA, 27 IP, 14 hits).

Offensively, the Seminoles are hitting .337 with a .574 slugging percentage. The leaders are Isa Torres (.486, 1 HR, 7 RBIs), Jaysoni Beachum (.423, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs) and Marin Heller (.405, 8 RBIs). The Seminoles lost to No. 1 Texas Tech 3-2, defeated No. 11 UCLA 11-7 and lost to No. 3 Tennessee 9-1 last weekend.

UL BASEBALL

Continued from page 1C

Different players had momentum, but no one outright looked the part of an everyday starter during the ﬁrst series. Deggs said Monday that right ﬁelder Donovan LaSalle (.222, 2 RBIs) was battling a wrist injury in the series after getting hit by a pitch. Maddox Mandino (.250, 2 RBIs), Griffin Hebert (.200, 1 RBI) and true freshman Noah Lewis (.111) all had moments, but the Cajuns hope some of

them catch fire sooner rather than later

The infield carried the offense, led by second baseman Rigoberto Hernandez (.364, 1 HR, 2 RBIs), freshman shortstop Blaze Rodriguez (.364, 4 RBIs) and designated hitter Steven Spalitta (.273, 3 RBIs). “I thought Maddox was gritty and played well this weekend,” Deggs said. “Noah’s got a chance out there in center You’re going to take a lump or two, but I don’t know that you’re going to ﬁnd more dynamic speed.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL third baseman Brooke Otto (2) has three of the Cajuns’ 15 home runs this season after the team hit only 22 a year ago.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP UL shortstop Blaze Rodriguez delivered an encouraging first

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NIGEL COOK

right, speaks with NASCAR chairman Jim France after Tyler Reddick won

Speedway on Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla. It was the first Daytona

Meyers Taylor wins first gold at 41

Bobsledder becomes oldest American woman to take gold at Winter Games

BY TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press

JAPAN WINS FIRST OLYMPIC PAIRS GOLD WITH WORLD-RECORD

FREE SKATE: Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara thought their chances of Olympic gold had gone by the wayside when the Japanese skaters made an uncharacteristic slip-up during their short program.

But the two-time defending world champions rebounded Monday with a world-record free skate under the current scoring system, lifting them from fifth place all the way to the top step of the podium and Japan’s first Olympic medal in the pairs event.

Miura and Kihara dropped to their knees in a tearful embrace when they realized they had won gold.

MALININ HINTS AT ‘INEVITABLE CRASH:’ Ilia Malinin posted a video on social media Monday hinting at an “inevitable crash.”

The American alluded again to the weight he felt while competing in Milan in the caption to his video.

“On the world’s biggest stage those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” wrote the 21-year-old Malinin.“Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise.Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.

Malinin was the heavy favorite to add another gold in the individual event but he fell twice, placing eighth.

USA, CANADA WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAMS FACE OFF FOR GOLD: MariePhilip Poulin won’t dispute how good the Americans have looked in romping through the women’s hockey tournament And Canada’s captain will readily acknowledge her team has yet to come close to playing its best.

What matters to Poulin is having the opportunity to play in a showdown with gold medal on the line Thursday.

On Monday, Poulin broke the Olympic record for goals in women’s hockey She scored twice against Switzerland to reach 20 for her career

The U.S. and Canada will face off for Olympic gold for a seventh time since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games in a rivalry between the sport’s two global powers.And this time, the Americans are the favorites.

NORWEGIAN LOSES IN SLALOM, RETREATS INTO FOREST: Atle Lie McGrath’s gold-medal hopes in the Olympic slalom slipped away His ski poles were then thrown away And then he simply stumbled away through the snow toward the woods.

“I thought that I would get some peace and quiet, which I didn’t,” the Norwegian ski racer said of his retreat from the course after losing out on a medal “Because photographers and police found me out in the woods. But I just needed some time for myself.”

McGrath entered the final run of the final men’s race with a big lead

But after straddling a gate, he lost a medal, then control of his emotions.

McGrath has been racing with a heavy heart, with his grandfather dying the day of the opening ceremony.

“What he’s gone through these last 10, 12 days, it’s been really tough,” said teammate Timon Haugan.

— The Associated Press

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO,

Italy Elana

Meyers Taylor’s two young sons watched her leap into the air, throw her fists skyward, wave the American ﬂag, then fall to her knees and start to cry In time, they’ll understand what they saw They saw history

The 41-year-old U.S. bobsledder

— a mother of two special-needs children, an athlete whose career was jeopardized by concussions, someone who dealt with plenty of doubt in recent years is, ﬁnally, an Olympic champion. Meyers Taylor won the gold medal in monobob at the Milan Cortina Games on Monday night, her sixth career medal and ﬁrst Olympic title.

“I thought it was impossible,” Meyers Taylor said. She was never happier to be wrong. She became the oldest American woman to hear “The StarSpangled Banner” played in her honor at the Winter Games Rallying in the fourth and ﬁnal heat, Meyers Taylor prevailed with a four-run, two-day time of 3 minutes, 57.93 seconds.

Meyers Taylor had medaled ﬁve times before — three silver, two bronze. She was the most decorated Black athlete at a Winter Olympics even before this win, and her place in history got a whole lot more dazzling on a frosty night in the Italian mountains. And this medal, her sixth, tied Bonnie Blair for the most by a U.S woman in the Winter Olympics.

“To have my name up there with Bonnie Blair it doesn’t even make sense to me,” Meyers Taylor said.

Germany’s Laura Nolte the leader after the ﬁrst, second and

third runs — was second and Kaillie Humphries Armbruster of the U.S. was third.

“I’m a bit sad because now at the moment it feels like I lost gold — and not that I won silver In a few hours I think I can celebrate it, because it’s still a great result,” Nolte said. “Elana also deserves it. She’s a super kind human and she has won silver for many times now and the gold was missing.”

It was the fifth career medal for Humphries Armbruster She’s 40 and about 18 months removed from becoming a mom and she technically became the first woman 40 or older to clinch an Olympic bobsled medal, since she finished her competition exactly 2 minutes, 29 seconds before Meyers Taylor crossed the line to join the 40-something medal club.

“You get a lot of people that like to write you off as soon as you reach 40, it’s all downhill from there, is what you hear I think Elana and I are both proof that that’s not true,” Humphries Armbruster said. “As soon as you become a mom, your body’s not the same, and you can never get

that high performance back, and I think we were able to show that that’s not true again.”

Nolte led by 0.15 seconds going into the final run, with Meyers Taylor second and Humphries Armbruster third — 0.24 seconds off the lead. Barring big mistakes, gold, silver and bronze would be theirs in some order; nobody else was within 0.6 seconds of Humphries Armbruster, nor within about a full second of Nolte’s lead going into the final heat. They go in reverse order in sliding. That meant Humphries Armbruster went first among the final three, then Meyers Taylor, then Nolte.

Humphries Armbruster finished in 3:58.05, knowing she was assured of her ﬁfth career medal when she crossed the line. As the sled skidded to a stop, she was already on her feet — throwing her arms into the air, knowing at least bronze was coming her way U.S. coach Brian Shimer, often stoic, started punching the air in celebration. And then the scene was set for Meyers Taylor, who held on to no worse than the sil-

ver spot and wrapped herself in an American ﬂag after hopping out of the sled.

Nolte had the lead going into the last run. She just couldn’t hold it. Kaysha Love, the world monobob champion for the U.S. last year had big trouble in her second and fourth runs and ﬁnished seventh with a final time of 3:59.27.

“Seeing Elana, that was iconic,” Love said.

Humphries Armbruster won the gold medal in the inaugural running of monobob at the 2022 Beijing Games, with Meyers Taylor winning silver

This is the ﬁfth time that Meyers Taylor and Humphries Armbruster have competed in the Olympics. Each has medaled in each of their previous four appearances; Humphries Armbruster was also on the Canadian Olympic team in 2006, but did not race in those Turin Games. They’re now 5-for-5. And Meyers Taylor ﬁnally has the golden moment.

“I didn’t need it,” Meyers Taylor said. “But I wanted it.”

Gu wins silver in big-air ﬁnal for 5th Olympic medal

BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press

LIVIGNO,Italy Eileen Gu last competed in a big-air contest four years ago. She learned the trick that helped her reach the medals stand Monday night four days ago. Then, in a frenzied training session before the snowy Olympic ﬁnal, she tried an even bigger trick, but hit her head on the landing and cracked her helmet.

Given all that, finishing second, a mere 1.75 points behind Canada’s Megan Oldham, felt like a victory, not a loss for the sport’s best-known star Given all that, picking up a fifth medal in the five events she has entered over two Winter Olympics felt like a time to celebrate, not think about what might have been.

“‘Five-time Olympic medalist’ kind of has a nice ring to it,” Gu said.

While Gu has two silvers at these Olympics — one in slopestyle and the latest in big air — Oldham, the 24-year-old from Parry Sound, Ontario, has a bronze and a gold Egged on by her older brother, Bruce, who is also a pro freeskier, Oldham traded in gymnastics and ﬁgure skating a handful of years ago to start catapulting herself off mountains. The other sports taught her a lot about “air awareness, and spinning in general,”

she said. It also took her from a pair of dangerous sports to one that borders on death-defying. In this Olympic big-air contest, the adrenaline junkies have to ride an actual elevator to the top of a scaffolding on which sits a manmade hill 165 feet in the air

“A brutal sport,” Oldham called it. “A lot of times when you’re learning these new tricks, you can fall pretty hard.”

She suffered a concussion in December and said she felt pressure, not knowing if she could

make it back in time for the Olympics.

“Just coming back from that alone, I’m pretty proud of myself,” Oldham said. So was bronze medalist Flora Tabanelli, who took bronze for Italy’s 23rd medal of the Games. She’s four months removed from a torn ACL. She decided to compete in a brace instead of opting for season-ending surgery

“Three months ago, after the injury, I thought I wouldn’t make it here,” she said “When I arrived here and said to myself, ‘I

TV HIGHLIGHTS

feel pretty good,’ it was already a win.”

Gu naturally came to Italy with better name recognition and higher expectations than anyone else in the snowpark.

After her ﬁrst jump, a 1,440-degree whirl that put her in medal contention, she ran to the stands to celebrate She had friends from college and from junior high who took advantage of the three-day weekend in the United States to come watch.

She’s the sport’s only threeevent athlete. So, over the past few years, something had to give between all the skiing, Stanford University, modeling and globetrotting between her native U.S. and her mom’s home country of China, the country she competes for That one thing was big air

She had not been on an entry sheet for the sport’s highest-flying discipline since the day she left Beijing four years ago with the first of two gold medals in tow “If you’d asked me four days ago and said, ‘What tricks are you going to do in the final?’ I’d be, like, ‘I’m in the final?’” she said. During warmups for the final, she crashed while trying a 1,620-degree spin, the likes of which won her that gold. She was fortunate that a near blizzard rushed through the snowpark shortly after delaying the start by 75 minutes.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO

Gold medalist Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States celebrates at the finish after the women’s monobob competition on Monday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GREGORy BULL

Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China celebrates with fans after the women’s freestyle skiing big-air finals on Monday in Livigno, Italy

Best STM soccer scorer looks to end career in style Acadiana girls earn lofty seed for their

NEAL MCCLELLAND

Contributing writer

St. Thomas More senior forward Luke Finley knew heading into the season that he had the potential to do something special.

“I ﬁnished last season with 20 goals, and I worked hard over the summer to get better,” said Finley, whose No. 2-seeded Cougars are hosting No. 10 Neville at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday “So I came into this season wanting to break the single-season scoring record of 33 goals

“So I had it in mind that I wanted to score 40 goals.”

Finley may have set his bar low With his single goal in Tuesday’s playoff win against New Iberia, Finley now has scored 41 goals this season in 23 games. With three potential games left, Finley could make the single-season scoring record at STM really tough to match in the future.

“My season has been great,” he said. “My teammates really cheer me on, and it’s because of them that I have scored all these goals They set me up and it has really been all my teammates and my fans that have helped me to this point.”

Finley said his success on the ﬁeld starts with his parents.

“They instilled hard work in me from the beginning of my life,” he said. “I worked for everything that I have, no handouts, nothing given to me. I feel like all that has ﬁnally come to a pinnacle this year.” He broke the school record of 32 goals during the regular season. He reached his personal goal of 40 in STM’s ﬁrst playoff game last week. Now with 41 goals, Finley is looking to go to the next round number of 50 before the season ends.

“That’s only nine more goals to go and with three games left if we reach the ﬁnals, I can reach that goal,” Finley said.

St. Thomas More soccer coach

LAMAR

Continued from page 1C

3,493 points.

As a sophomore, Lamar led the nation’s College Division in scoring as his reached that division’s ﬁnal four

“He developed as a freshman under (future NBA teammate Marvin) Winkler,” USL teammate Steve Caldwell said. “Winkler was a good mentor for him and he just ran with it after that.”

As a junior he led the NCAA University Division in scoring at 36.3 points per game.

In that 1971-72 season, he was a ﬁrst-team All-American alongside such names as Bill Walton, Bob McAdoo and his East High teammate Ed Ratleff of Long Beach State.

A year later as a senior, Lamar was a ﬁrst-team All-American with other superstars such as Walton, Ratleff, David Thompson, Doug Collins and Ernie DiGregorio.

“There was a lot of talent on that team, but like they said about Reggie Jackson with the Yankees, Bo was the straw that stirred the

LSU MEN

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are the primary examples this season. Thomas is scheduled to have season-ending foot surgery this week, the program announced on Saturday The point guard injured his left foot on Jan. 2, the day before the Southeastern Conference opener, and reaggravated the injury on Jan 28 in a 14-point home loss to Mississippi State.

Thomas was averaging a teamhigh 16.2 points on 49.3% shooting, an SEC-high 7.1 assists and only 1.8 turnovers per game before conference play, leading the team to a 12-1 start. He played in just 16 games this season, including three in conference play

Thomas joins Reed, who was ruled out for the season after a left Achilles tendon injury The 6-10 redshirt junior was injured in the sixth game during a nine-point win against Drake on Nov 28. He averaged 11 points on 60.6% shoot-

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

A year ago, the Acadiana girls basketball program suffered through a 5-23 season with no wins in District 3-5A play

What a difference a year makes.

In his first year at the helm, Rams coach Korey Arnold has turned things around.

Not only did the Rams go 5-2 in the district but they also ﬁnished the regular season 29-4 en route to earning the No. 5 seed and a ﬁrstround bye in the Division I select playoffs.

“The girls are super excited,” Arnold said. “They worked really hard since the summer to kind of get to this point. When we ﬁrst took over, it was kind of a dream, and then it became a vision due to their hard work I kept preaching that we have to get better from game to game, practice to practice They’ve done a good job doing it.”

The Rams have managed the turnaround with a roster that features four freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup.

BOYS BASKETBALL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

“He is a crisp, clean finisher He’s super electric on the field and will put the ball in the back of the net.”

DANE ADAMS, St.Thomas More soccer coach on Luke Finley

Dane Adams has nothing but praise for his star forward.

“He is a crisp, clean ﬁnisher,” Adams said. “He’s super electric on the ﬁeld and will put the ball in the back of the net.”

While scoring records are great, taking home a state title is the bigger goal.

“We won the state title my freshman year and to go out with another state title would be a great feeling,” he said.

drink,” said Hebert, referring to other NBA players on those Cajuns teams such as Roy Ebron and Freddie Saunders. “Once Bo got here, this place exploded. Everybody wanted to see him play.”

Hebert said he grew up going to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, but once it came down to his college choice, he chose USL because he wanted to watch the basketball team play

Hebert said he learned of La-

mar’s death in a text Monday morning.

“I had tears running down my cheeks,” he said “I’m not going to lie. It just affected me like that We knew those guys. We felt like we were part of it. “

Caldwell said Lamar’s impact on the Acadiana area can’t be minimized.

“I would say Bo Lamar and then Ron Guidry put Lafayette, Louisiana, on the map,” Caldwell said.

“I had a ringside seat right there, but it was at practice, too They were just as good at practice.

“I could run as fast as I could down court, and Bo could pass me up with the basketball He was fast and quick and could jump and shoot. He was the whole package.”

ing and 6.0 rebounds before going down.

But McMahon is sort of used to this at LSU. Here’s a rundown of the absences LSU has dealt with during his tenure prior to this season:

2024-25 season McMahon had two returning players miss the majority of last season.

Reed, who was McMahon’s first high school recruit, suffered a season-ending torn right ACL injury during the eighth game of the season against Florida State on Dec. 3, 2024. He was averaging 12.4 points on 59.6% shooting and 7.4 rebounds in the first seven games. Those figures would’ve made him the team’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder that season.

LSU also didn’t have Tyrell Ward, the top returning scorer from the previous season. The 6-6 wing, who has since transferred to Virginia Commonwealth, didn’t play any games after stepping away from the program because of

“The expectations were for them to just do their job every day and do it to the best of your ability,” Arnold said. “When you do that, things kind of tend to fall in place. I knew we were going to have a relatively young team, so I knew we had to have some substantial growth and they were able to do that by really buying into what we were trying to teach them.”

The Rams are one of 28 girls basketball teams — 12 nonselect and 16 select — that learned Monday the road they must travel in the playoffs.

Among those teams, Lafayette Christian and Midland earned No 1 seeds, while JS Clark (No. 2 in Division IV select), Teurlings Catholic (No. 7 in Division I select), Vermilion Catholic (No. 7 in Division IV select), Northside (No. 8 in Division II select) and North Vermilion (No. 3 in Division II nonselect) all earned ﬁrstround byes.

“I mean, we’re happy, but being No. 1 really doesn’t mean much if you don’t take care of your business in the playoffs,”

Caldwell remembers the story of how USL was recruiting Lamar’s high school teammate Ratleff in Columbus, Ohio, when the school’s principal suggested to USL assistant coach Tom Cox that he “sign Bo and Ed might come.” That team also had Nick Conner who enjoyed a big career at Illinois.

Ratleff chose Jerry Tarkanian and Long Beach State, but Lamar came to Cajun Country

On Dec. 10, 1971, Ratleff and No. 6-ranked Long Beach State played Lamar’s squad in the Bayou Classic at Blackham Coliseum.

“My biggest memory was that Long Beach State game,” longtime UL basketball fan Mike Hebert said. “I was a sophomore in high school. I would listen to the games on the radio, but my dad agreed to take me to the game.

“It was 83-all and Bo hit one of his patented long jumpers from what would be NBA 3 today — 26 to 30 feet. That gave us the lead 85-83, and we went on to win 9083. I’ll never forget that game.”

That was a week after USL beat No. 7 Houston 97-88. In an era where only 24 teams made

mental-health reasons. The team announced his departure minutes before the season opener on Nov 6, 2024. Ward averaged 9.1 points and shot 41.3% from the 3-point line as a sophomore the year before. He was expected to ﬁll a large role.

The Tigers also had two productive freshmen injured during conference play Vyctorius Miller and Corey Chest, who have both since transferred to Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, respectively, missed a combined 11 games in SEC play

Miller missed seven of 18 SEC games with an ankle injury The 6-5 guard averaged 8.9 points in 19 minutes last season. Chest, then a redshirt freshman, missed four conference contests because of a foot injury The New Orleans native started 19 games and averaged 6.1 points, a teamhigh 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.1 minutes.

2023-24 season

McMahon’s second season was his most successful as LSU ﬁn-

Knights coach Errol Rogers said.

“Losing one of our better players (Kaliyah Samuels) during the year, we had to go through a little change. I feel like we fought through it, and I think we’ve gotten a whole lot better now.”

The Knights, who have won eight state championships in the past nine years, are seeking to win their sixth consecutive title.

“When you are No. 1, everybody is gunning for you,” Rogers said.

“We’ve been the No. 1 seed for the

the NCAA Tournament, USL beat Marshall 112-101 and Texas 100-70 before falling to Louisville 88-84 during Lamar’s junior season.

As a senior, USL beat No. 7 Houston 102-89 in the NCAA Tournament before falling to Kansas State 66-63 and then South Carolina with Alex English and Brian Winters 90-85 in the consolation game.

“That had to be so satisfying after blowing that game at Houston (82-80) earlier that season,” Mike Hebert said.

With Lamar leading the way, coach Beryl Shipley’s teams were among the nation’s elite in that era. In Lamar’s final three seasons, the USL record was 7413. The only team with a better record in that stretch was the UCLA Bruins with John Wooden.

In fact, a Sports Illustrated article proclaimed USL as one of the few teams in the country capable of beating the dynastic Bruins.

Other fans remember Lamar’s school-record 62 points against Northeast in 1971 or the memorable clashes with Mike Green and Louisiana Tech throughout his career That magical era was tarnished

ished 9-9 in SEC play and 17-16 overall. But the Tigers had two players miss most of the season, including one major contributor and one rotational player Point guard Jalen Cook started nine of his 13 games. The former Walker High School star and Tulane transfer averaged 15.6 points (a team-high), 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and shot 41.3% overall. He also had four 20-point performances against SEC competition.

The 6-foot senior missed the team’s ﬁrst 10 games because he didn’t have NCAA eligibility as a two-time transfer That changed once he received a temporary restraining order for the season from a U.S. district court judge in West Virginia. Cook was a freshman at LSU during the 2020-21 season, played at Tulane for two seasons and returned to the Tigers as a true senior Cook didn’t play again after McMahon announced on March 4, 2024, that he was suspended “for

last ﬁve years, so when you’re at the top, everybody’s trying to get you.

“We can make a run at the championship. It is kind of looking maybe a little bit harder than usual, but I feel like we can. Rosepine is going to be really good, Sacred Heart of New Orleans is going to be good, De La Salle and Holy Savior Menard. We can’t take anybody lightly We have to be on top of our game, because if we’re not, we could end up losing.”

when the NCAA gave the basketball program the death penalty for the next two seasons, mostly because of impermissible payments to players.

Lamar was a third-round pick of Detroit in the NBA but was the ﬁrst overall pick in the ABA draft by the San Diego Conquistadors. He was a member of the ABA All-Rookie team, averaging 20.1 points a game, including one 50-point performance.

Lamar averaged 19.7 points and 4.6 assists in his 202-game ABA career, and he played one NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers after the merger After his playing days, Lamar served as color analyst for the Cajuns and later was the head basketball coach at Holy Rosary in town before returning to Ohio.

“He could stop and elevate on a dime,” Lou Hebert said. “This was before the 3-point line. He would be coming down the court and boom, just go up and hit this rainbow jumper so pretty, bottom of the night His shooting ability was amazing to watch.” Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

failure to meet the standards” of the program. He missed the last 10 games of the season. He missed one game due to injury and ﬁve other games before McMahon’s announcement.

Daimion Collins, a former five-star recruit and Kentucky transfer, also dislocated his right shoulder in the sixth game of his ﬁrst year with the Tigers. He averaged 4.3 points in 10.3 minutes. Collins played 30 of 32 games the following season at LSU but has since transferred to South Florida. 2022-23 season

McMahon’s ﬁrst season at LSU had the fewest player absences. Of the team’s eight leaders in minutes per game, seven played at least 30 of 33 games. The only player who didn’t was guard Justice Williams, who played 23 games and averaged 15.9 minutes.

The team’s

and

Men’s

UAB54

Women’s Singles Round

Emma Navarro(14),UnitedStates, def. Elena-Gabriela Ruse,Romania, 6-4, 7-5. IvaJovic (16), United States,def.Kamilla Rakhimova,Russia,6-1,1-6,6-1 VarvaraGracheva, Russia, def. Rebecca Sramkova, Slovakia,7-5,1-6,6-4 ClaraTauson (12),Denmark,def. Soﬁa Kenin, United States,7-6 (4), 6-2. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, 6-3, 7-6(6) Daria Kasatkina, Russia, def. Laura Siegemund, Germany, 6-2, 6-3. Belinda Bencic (9), Switzerland, def.Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, Spain, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. AnastasiaZakharova, Russia, def. Moyuka Uchijima, Japan, 6-2, 6-4. AntoniaRuzic, Croatia, def. Emma Raducanu, Britain,6-1,5-7,6-2 Anna Kalinskaya,Russia,def.Jelena Ostapenko, Latvia, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Paula Badosa, Spain, def. Katerina Siniakova, Czechia,6-3,7-5 Jaqueline Cristian, Romania, def. Petra Marcinko, Croatia, 6-1, 6-1. Women’s Singles Round of 32 Janice Tjen, Indonesia,def. Leylah Fernandez,Canada, 7-6(5),6-4 Amanda Anisimova (2), United States,def. BarboraKrejcikova, Czechia,walkover.

Women’s Doubles Round of 32 AlexandraPanova and Diana Shnaider, Russia, def. IrinaKhromacheva,Russia,and

Aldila Sutjiadi,Indonesia,7-5,6-2. Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Luisa Stefani (5), Brazil, def. Kimberly Birrelland Maya Joint, Australia,6-3,6-4

Nicole Melichar-Martinez, United States and Cristina Bucsa (8), Spain, def. Soﬁa Kenin, United States,and VarvaraGracheva, Russia, 6-2, 6-2. Marie Bouzkova,Czechia,and Janice Tjen, Indonesia,def.UlrikkeEikeri, Norway,and Xinyu Jiang, China, 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. Women’s Doubles Round of 16 Jessica Pegula, United States,and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico,def.Zhang Shuai, China,and Elise Mertens (2), Belgium, 6-3, 6-3. ATPWorld Tour Qatar ExxonMobil Open Results

Monday At Khalifa International Tennisand Squash Complex Doha, Qatar Purse: $2,833,335 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor

Men’sSingles

Jakub Mensik (6), Czechia,def.Jan Choinski, Britain, 6-7(6),6-2,6-4 Arthur Fils, France, def. Kamil Majchrzak Poland, 6-7(5),6-3,6-4

state schedule

LSU-Oklahoma gymset for7th straight 1-2matchup

Chio tied for first on balancebeam, second on vault

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

It’sofﬁcial: Friday’sLSUOklahoma gymnastics meet will be ameeting of No. 1 and No. 2onceagain. The RoadtoNationals.com rankings, based on season averages,have Oklahoma at No. 1and LSU at No. 2. The Sooners have an NQS (National Qualifying Score) of 197.900, while the Tigers have an NQS of 197.658. The meet, LSU’sﬁrst trip to Norman since Oklahoma joined theSoutheastern Conference for the 2025 season, is set for 8p.m. and will be televisedonESPN2.

10.Stanford196.906 LSUGYMNASTICSNOTEBOOK

RoadtoNationals.com

Top10

1. Oklahoma 197.900

2. LSU197.658

3.Alabama 197.475

4. Florida197.456

5. UCLA197 405

6. Georgia 197.290

7.Arkansas197 155

8. Missouri197.095

9. Michigan197.088

ä LSU at Oklahoma 8P.M.FRIDAy,ESPN2

coach JayClark saidMonday “It’sawesome for thefans.”

legiate sport

Sheistiedfor ﬁrstonbalance beam with Oklahoma’s Faith Torrez,both with NQS averages of 9.955. Chio’sfull schedule average is abit higher—9.963-9.954 —and she has the nation’sonly perfect 10 on beam to date.

Chio is second on vault to Oklahoma’s Addison Fatta, 9.945-9.940. Fatta is one of five gymnasts with 10s on vault, while Chio has had 9.975s thepast two meets. Chio alsoisthirdinthe allaround behind Jordan Chiles of UCLA (39.705) and Fatta (39.580) with a39.520.

To say this has become the rivalry in women’scollegiate gymnasticswould be an understatement. This will be the seventh straight time the Tigers and Sooners will compete in the same meet ranked 1-2. LSU and Oklahoma are the past two NCAA champions, with the Tigers winning in 2024 and the Soonerswinning in 2025. They shared the SEC regular-season title last year, with LSU winningthe SEC championship meet. They come into this meet with Oklahoma sporting 10-0-1 and 5-0 in the SEC marks, and the Tigers are 6-1-1 and 3-1-1. The tie?In theirseason-opening meet in the SproutsCollegiate Quad in Utah, both teams finished with first-place scores of 197.500.

However,asClark andhis gymnasts said, thereisn’t much eitherteamcan doto each other.There’snoplayingdefense, likeinthis past Saturday’swomen’s basketball showdown between LSUand SouthCarolina.

“Thefans love it. It’s awesome forthe fans.”

LSU COACHJAy CLARK ON THE RIVALRy WITH OKLAHOMA

“The fans love it,” LSU

“They can’t tack le us andwecan’t tackle them,” Clark said.

Junior Kylie Coen saidthe Tigers’ focus has to remain internal.

“It’sjustanother week,” she said. “Itdoesn’tmatter whoisonthe ﬂoor with us. We don’ttrain harderorless hardbecauseofwho’sout there. We’rejust excited for another week of competition.”

LSU is coming off its best performance of the season, a198.325-196.825 winFridayat homeoverNo. 18 Auburn.Oklahomawent to No. 4Florida on Friday andwon 198.075-197.575.

Chio rankshigh LSU sophomore Kailin Chio continues to rank as one of the brightest starsinthe col-

Chiles and Chio are tied with the best all-around scores this season of 39.875, the LSU gymnast’stop markcoming against Auburn. Chio had aperfect 10 on ﬂoor,but herﬂoor NQS (9.885) is tied for 21st.

LSU sophomore Kaliya Lincoln is tied for fourth on floor with a9.920. Blacksonbears watching Clark said the Tigers are in overall good physical condition going intothis week’smeet, thoughthere is some concern about fifthyear senior Courtney Blackson’s shoulder Blackson,who hashad three scores of 9.925 or better on unevenbars this season, only did vault against Auburn because of her shoulder “There’sinflammation in there,” Clark said. “It’suncomfortable and it seems to go from day to day.Some days are worsethanothers. Shelooked good (Sunday) in the gym. We just have to monitor it. The docs looked at it andthere’s nothing structurally wrong.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletterattheadvocate. com/lsunewsletter

MJ’s Cafe reopening with new owner, menu

BY MADDIE SCOTT andJAN RISHER Staff writers

MJ’sCafe, 5162 Government St., is reopening in Februaryafter atemporary closure for renovations.

MJ’sCafe originallyopened in 2011, serving aplant-based menu with veganand vegetarian options. It temporarily closedabout a month and ahalf ago.

The cafe will reopen Wednesday,the day after Mardi Gras, according to new owner Stephen Hightower,alongtime Baton Rouge restaurateur. Thecafe’soriginalowner,Maureen Joyce, will continuemaking her signature soups, and the same staffwill remain involved, Hightower said.

“MJ’sisa living organism, no pun intended,” Hightower said. “Wewant to respect that and keep the same vibe.Weare updating the menu with some chicken and seafood options, but we will keep the vegan and vegetarian fare MJ’shas done so well for so long.”

The revamped menu willserve breakfast, brunch, tapas, soups, salads and sweets under new executive chef MadelineSlade

Hightowerdescribes the new menu as “flexitarian,” with avocado sourdough toast, vegan breakfast sandwiches, Italian bruschetta on atoasted baguette, salmon cakes, seared tuna lettuce wraps and avarietyof bowls. One new menu item, likely to be ahit, is Slade’sversion of edamame dumplings, which are stuffed with acreamy edamamebasilfilling andfinished with Parmesanor vegan cheese, green onionand lemonzest.

The restaurant will alsocontinue to serve avariety of pastries and sweets, including a regular brownie and chocolate croissant, a vegetarian croissant, gluten-free and vegan cookies and cupcakes.

The restaurantseats 65 people andwill feature some interior renovations, including the addition of acoffee corner witha special coffee blend.

Resurrection fern revivestoa lush greenafter rainfall

Editor’snote: This is the ﬁnal installment of athree-part “What’sonmytree?” series about organisms that arecommonly found growing on trees in Louisiana

Not many plants can lose up to 97% of their moisture content and then spring back to life within hours of rainfall. But for resurrection fern,this remarkable featisjustpartof its survival strategy Resu rrection fern (Pleopeltispolypodioides) is acommon sight on the branches of live oak and other treesinLouisiana. It spends much of its life in a dried, brown state, blending in with the bark of the trees. But as soon as it rains, the fronds rehydrate,unfurl and turn alush green —hence thename resurrection fern.

ä See FERN, page 8C

CAPITALCITY CARNIVAL

Alookatsomeofthe happenings at BatonRouge MardiGras2026

When MardiGras washes over Louisiana, its cities are ﬁlled with music, laughterand thesweetnessofking cake. Families gather along paraderoutes, andthe air hums with brass bands. In Baton Rouge,MardiGras is acelebration of tradition, joy and togetherness. Even after thelast ﬂoat passes, the magic still lingers on thewalk back to thecar.Until next year

STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER

Madeline Slade is the newexecutive chef at MJ’sCafe

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

young paraders toss throws during the Krewe of Orion parade in downtown Baton RougeonFeb.7 STAFF

GALLEGOS

Guys strut during the Krewe Mystique parade on

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Floats rollbythe State Capitol during the KreweMystique parade on Feb.7

Friend backsout of vacation plans

Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

Dear Harriette: My friend and I have been talking for amonth now about booking asummer vacation together to Greece. Irecently brought itupagain, and shesaid that she can’tgoanymore because she booked adifferent vacation with adifferent friend. She didn’tmention it beforehand or talk to me about possibly changing plans.She just said it was cheaper and easier to coordinate.

Iwas caught off guard.Technically we hadn’tbooked anything yet, but we had been talking about this for weeks, and it felt like an

unspoken commitment. What hurt mostwas feeling like Iwas easily replaced. Now I’m questioning whether she ever even wanted to go on avacation with me at all or if she was just lying to me this whole time. Idon’tknow if I’m overreacting or if my feelings are valid. Should Itell her that this hurt me or just letitgo since nothing was ofﬁcially booked? How do Imove forward without feeling like I’malways the backup plan friend? —Dumped Dear Dumped: Youhave every right to feel upset about this. Your friendhas theright to change her mindaswell, butshe should have been upfront with you. It does seem like your friend thought of you as thebackup plan and treated youasdisposable when

somethingbetter came along. Either way,that is not thesign of a friend who prioritizes you or has your back. At this point, you can tell her that you do not appreciate being discarded like that without even therespect to tell you she was considering other options. You should also keep this incident in mindthe next time she starts making big plans of any kind.

Dear Harriette: My husband and I were on aroad trip, pit-stopping in acouple of cities. Oneofmy girlfriends asked if we could meet her for lunch, and we obliged. When the bill came, my husband paid for himself and me andleft the remainder of the tab for my girlfriend to pay.She seemed surprised. We had never

said out loudhow we’dhandle thebill, but frankly Iwas abit surprised,too. The place wasn’t overly expensive, so Ithought my husband would just pay for everything. Later,when Icalled my girlfriend to let her know we had arrived at our next city,wegot into an argument because she thought it was common courtesy that my husband should have paid the entire bill. While Ishare that line of thought, Idonot think it is her place to have opinions about what my husbandshould or should not do. That feelslike entitlement. Now,I’m not clear on how to properly address this with my friend or my husband.Any advice?

Split the Bill

Dear Split TheBill: Yousay your

During dryspells, resurrection ferndries and turnsbrown, blending into tree bark.

FERN

Continued from page7C

This plant is aharmlessepiphyte, or air plant. That means its water and nutrient needs are met through the air and rain. It doesn’thurt trees, simply using them as aplace to grow Resurrection ferncan be found throughoutthe southeasternUnited States, as it likes warmer climates with regular rainfall. Like other ferns, it spreads by spores and rhizomes, not seed. It prefers oak species but also

can makeitself at home on cypress, magnolia, pecan andother trees as well as structures in thelandscape.

Howisthismiracle possible?

friend asked you to meet her forlunch. If that’sthe case, she should not expect you to pay her bill. The old-fashioned thinking is that the man should pay foran unaccompanied womanjoining acouple forameal, but this is 2026. She doesn’thave the right to be angry.Tell her you are sorry her feelings were hurt, but there should not have been an automatic assumption that you would foot the bill when she invited you to lunch. In fact, modern etiquette dictates that the one whoinvites is the one whoshould pay

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o AndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Is ‘gussied up ’ acompliment?

Theplant hasbeenstudied as amodel for droughttolerance and has even beentaken into space for scientiﬁc experiments.While most plants can toleratelosingonlyabout 10%oftheir water before dying, resurrection fern is capable of surviving while nearly completely desiccated —sometimes for years! Resurrection fern usually sheds about 75% of its water during dry spells, and in extreme drought situations, itcan lose up to 97% of its moisture and still live.

When dryweather hits,resurrection fern shrivels up to reduce itssurface area andgoes dormant. Special proteins called dehydrins protect its cells from damage, so cell walls can shrink and stretchwithout breaking. This allows theplant to lose nearly allits water without dying.

So, thenext time you’re outdoors after it rains, look up into thetrees. You justmightspot resurrection fern an interesting plant, and one that reminds us thatrenewal is always possible, even when life is challenging.

Tips forcleaninghard-to-reach areas

Dear Heloise: Whencleaning smallorhard-toreach areas, Irely on a handheld vacuum with abrush attachment. Using the brush helps loosen dust, while the vacuum captures it so that it doesn’tget stirred up and settle elsewhere. I use this method for baseboards, corners, shelves, and other nooks and crannies where dust tends to

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,Feb. 17, the 48th dayof2026. There are 317 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Feb. 17, 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr,electing Jefferson president; Burr became vicepresident.

Also on this date: In 1863, ﬁve appointees of the Public Welfare Society of Geneva announced the formation of an “International Committee for the Relief of Wounded Combatants,” which would later be renamed the International Committeeofthe Red Cross. In 1864, during the Civil War, the Union ship USS Housatonicwas rammed and sank in Charleston Harbor,South Carolina, by the Confederate hand-cranked submarine HL Hunley,inthe ﬁrst naval attack of its kind; theHunley also sank.

collect. It’salso perfect for cleaning computer keyboards and laptop keys, where crumbs and dust can build up quickly

This approach keeps messes to aminimum and makes quick cleanups much easier. Thanks for all the helpful tips; I enjoy reading them regularly —Brady Polk, in Gastonia, North Carolina

Acknowledginga gift

Dear Heloise: Idon’tneed atraditional thank-you note from everyone I send agiftto; Ijust like

TODAYIN HISTORY

In 1897, theNational Congress of Mothers, the forerunner of the National Parent Teacher Association, convened its ﬁrst meeting in Washington with over 2,000 attendees. In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court,inWesberry v. Sanders, ruled that congressional districts within each state must be roughly equal in population. In 1992, serial killerJeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to lifeimprisonment after being found guilty of15 countsofﬁrst-degree murder. In 1995,Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings; he was later sentenced to 315 years in prison.

In 2008,Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. In 2013,DanicaPatrick won theDaytona500 pole becoming the ﬁrst womanto

to knowthatthe giftor card hasactually reached them. Thesedays, with mail delaysand delivery problems, it’sreassuring to getconﬁrmation that something hasarrived safely

Because of this, Ioften send aquicktextoremail to the recipient to request an acknowledgment of receipt of the giftorcard It doesn’t have to be formal or time-consuming. It really is the thought that counts, but sometimes we can’tcount on the deliveryservicetodo

securethe top spot forany Sprint Cup race. In 2014, Jimmy Fallon made his debut as host of NBC’s“Tonight Show,” taking over from Jay Leno. Today’sbirthdays: ActorBrenda Fricker is 81. ActorRene Russo is 72. ActorRichard Karn is 70. Olympicswimming gold medalist and television commentator Rowdy Gaines is 67. ActorLou Diamond Phillips is 64. Basketball Hall of FamerMichael Jordan is 63. Film director Michael Bayis61. Hockey Hall of FamerLuc Robitaille is 60. Olympicskiing gold medalist Tommy Moe is 56. ActorDenise Richards is 55. Musician BillieJoe Armstrong (Green Day) is 54. ActorJerry O Connell is 52. ActorJason Ritteris 46. Media personalityParis Hilton is 45. ActorJoseph Gordon-Levitt is 45. Singersongwriter Ed Sheeran is 35. Actor Jeremy Allen Whiteis35. Tennis player Madison Keys is 31.

its job correctly. Abrief message providespeace of mind. —Sandy,inTucson, Arizona Stifftowels

Dear Heloise: To the lady from Texaswhose mother’stowelsare stiffand scratchy when they’re dried off, is she giving them too much time in the dryer? Dryingtowels for too longcan have this effect. —Margaret M.,inMadison, Wisconsin

Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Dear Miss Manners: Idon’t know how to respond when meeting afriend and they exclaim, upon seeing me, “You’re all gussied up!” I don’ttake it as acompliment. Somehow it sounds like aputdown. Itend to get defensive and argue that just because I’m not wearing jeans and aT-shirt, it doesn’tmean I’m gussied up.

Wouldn’titbenicer to say, “You look nice today”?

Gentle reader: Sure.But notas satisfying to anyone whose ideaof“dressing up” is putting on clean athleisure and doesn’twanttobeshown up.

Youare right that this is not an innocent compliment. The subtext is that you are trying too hard, and that your efforts just look silly

But that is only asubtext. Youdonot really have to deal with that.

Adisarming alternative is to take it on face value, as acompliment. Responding, “Thank you, I’m glad you like it” at least shows your friend that the implied insult misﬁred. And Miss Manners gives you permission to add, “It’swhat I’m wearing to the Oscars.”

Dear Miss Manners: My husband and Iare in our 80s now,but we have been married only 20 years. This is a second marriage foreach of us.

People are frequently asking us how long we have been married. Ifeel sure that they want to hear a good story about the cute couple being together for 60 years. After hearing our answer of 20 years, more intrusive questions are asked: “How did you meet? How long did you date? Did you each own ahome?”

While Ifeel certain the inquiries are meanttobe

charming, Ifeel uncomfortable. Ioften give the vague answer of “Seemslike forever.” How do Ikeep these well-meaning people from asking intrusive questions without being rude myself?

Gentle reader: Among the trials of old age, being considered adorable is surely a minor one. And while Miss Manners understands that you feel patronized, she is going to ask you to put up with it —not, however,to the extent of reciting your marital history to anyone whoasks.

As you are aware (and have experienced), the lifetime marriage is, for whatever reasons, not as common as it used to be.

People are nostalgic about it, and therefore touched when they think they see evidence of its survival. In addition, they believe that people are ﬂattered to be askedtotalkabout themselves —whichmany people are, although not everyone.Furthermore, theythink theyhave chosena pleasanttopic.“How long have youbeen married?” is notinthe same intrusive categoryas, for example,“Why aren’tyou married?”

Youhaveonly to turn around thatassumption. “Twenty years,”you can say, “and howabout you?” Or,for singles, “Do you encounter many long marriagesthese days?”

Youwill have easily disabusedthemofthe notion that yours is alifetime romance, and, with any luck, gotten them started on talking about themselves.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners. com; to heremail, dearmissmanners@gmail. com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Hints from Heloise

LSUAGCENTERPHOTO By OLIVIA MCCLURE

AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Let your interests, work ethics andprinciples lead the way, and you'll discover alternatives that speed up your daily routine. If you want or need help, don't be afraid to ask for it.

PISCES (Feb.20-March 20) Interacting with professionally like-minded peoplewill helpyou gain momentum and insight into the bestpathforward. Put aplan in place and use kindness and consideration to move forward.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Putenthusiasm behind your plans and initiatethe changesthatwillmakeyour life less stressful.Saying akind word or offeringahelping hand will make you and those you aid feel good.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Explain how you feel or what you expect,and it will help you gain insight into the changes youcan implement. Avoid anger while striving to promote peace.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Refuse to let youremotions interfere with your productivity and doing what's right. Set standards, maintain equalityand stick to areasonablebudget.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Explore the possibilities and use your charmand consideration to enlist the help of others. When in doubt, honesty is the best policy. Self-improvement will be wellreceived.

LEO(July23-Aug. 22) Plan your actions, liveand learn, and refuse to let anger andfrustration ruin your day. Focuson

what's possible, do your research and put in the effort and time necessary to reach your goal.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Payattention to what's happening around you, and you'll benefitfromwhatyou observe Take the plunge and saywhat's on your mind and what you intend to do next.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct.23) Weigh the pros and cons,and proceed with aclear head and aplan in place. Social and networking events are favored if you put your best foot forward, presenting and promoting what you can do.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Less pushiness and more charmwill getthe job done.It will take thought, work and discipline to achieve what you setout to do. A domestic change thateliminates stress or tensionisinyour best interest.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Keep working toward agoal thatisliberating and offers healthybenefits. Don'tlet your emotions call the shots when common sense is what's necessary. Choose selfimprovement.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take a moment to rethink the past, present and future. Whenone door closes, another willopen. Look forthe silver lining, and you will find the perfect fit for your personal or professional pursuits.

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptogramsare created from quotations by famous people, past and present.Each letterinthe cipher stands for another.

TODAy'SCLUE: REQUALS y

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of theSudoku increases fromMonday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Jean Cocteau,aFrench poet andnovelistwho died in 1963, said, “The greatest masterpiece of literature is only adictionary out of order.”

In most deals,the exact order in which youplaythe tricksdoes not matter too much. Occasionally, though, youhaveto follow aspecific sequence, or you can be defeated by accurate defense

Which applies in today’s deal? South is in threeno-trump after East opened one spade. West leads thespadenine and East overtakes with his 10. What should declarer do?

Although East has only 11 high-card points, hishandisworth opening. He has length in themajors, an easy two-heart rebid, andifhefinds afit with hispartner,his hand has only sevenlosers(two spades, twohearts, one diamond and two clubs), which is the normal number for aminimum opening bid witha five-card suit.

South starts with only six top tricks: two spades and four clubs. He might be able to get three more tricks from diamonds,but if he has to lose twodiamond tricks,East will establish and run his spade suit to defeat the contract

Instead,South should impale East on the tines of Morton’s Fork. SinceEast is marked with themissing aces,declarer should play aclub to dummy’s jack, then lead the diamond nine.IfEastwins with his ace, Southtakes two spades, four diamonds and four clubs foranovertrick. Or if East ducks his ace, declarer wins with his queen and leads the heart king from his hand to collect twospades, two hearts, onediamond and four clubs. ©2026 by NEA, Inc., dist.

By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOONGOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Wordsthat acquire four letters

Average

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

Tuesday, February 17,2026

2026 MardiGras MardiGra

AboutGSW Page 3

KreweofGabriel.................................................... Pages4–10

History of theCarnival.............................................Page 11

Orderofthe Troubadours ............................Pages12–15

KreweofApollo .....................................................Pages 16 –19

KreweofVersailles ...........................................Pages20–23

KreweofCamelot ...............................................Pages24–26

KreweofAttakapas Pages28–29

KreweofLes Brigands de Laﬁtte ...........Pages 30 –31

KreweofVictoria................................................ Pages32–33

KreweofXanadu ................................................. Pages34– 35

KeyDates.............................................................................. Page 36

KreweofBonaparte.................................................... Page 37

Scott Business Association ................................ Page 39

Bead Busters BackCover

Participating Krewes

Krewe d’Amusement

Krewe of Apollo

Krewe d’Argent

Krewe of Attakapas

Krewe of Augustus

Krewe desBon Amis

Krewe of Bonaparte

Krewe of Camelot

Krewe of Gabriel

Krewe desJunes Amis

Krewe of Karencro

Krewe of Oberon

Krewe of Olympus

Krewe of Rendezvous

Krewe de St. Martin

Krewe of Triton

Orderofthe Troubadours

Krewe of Versailles

Krewe of Victoria

Krewe of Xanadu

The GreaterSouthwest LouisianaMardi Gras Association (“GSW”) has organized safe and family friendly MardiGrasparades in Lafayettefor 92 years, since 1934.Todayover20Krewesare recognized under the GSW“umbrella.” The GreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociation serves as aliaison between agencies of the LafayetteConsolidatedGovernment,the LafayetteSheriff’s Department, and other public bodies and all Krewes thatare under the GSLMGA umbrella in coordinating their needs

The Association notonlycoordinatesand stages theparades,but presents theCityBallonMardi Gras night. TheCity Ball is open to the public withnoadmission fee. The Association also produces and coordinates Le FestivaldeMardi Gras aLafayette at Cajun Fieldwith carnival rides and games,awide variety of live music, great Cajun food. The parades roll rightthrough thefestival site so everyone canenjoy all MardiGrashas to offer at oneconvenientlocation

The Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association was established to foster, promote and coordinate Lafayette’sMardi Gras celebration. The Associationisnot aKrewe,but is aboardof volunteerswho produce and coordinate the City Balland Parades,including securing ﬂoats,hiringmarchingbands, purchasing insurance, andworking withareagovernmental agencies

The Association also produces the“Le Festival de Mardi Gras a’ Lafayette” at CajunField.

The costs of MardiGras– the biggestfreeparty in Lafayette -are borne by the various Krewes andtheir members, and by theGreater Southwest Louisiana Mardi GrasAssociation. Thefestival is for 5days starting Friday evening thru to Tuesday

Chris Paul Villemarette PresidentofGreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociation

K KING

King Gabriel LXXXVII

John Wesley Bordelon

Gabriel LXXXVII, John WesleyBordelon, is the sonofthe late Mr.Vernon Paul Bordelon and Mrs.Frances Neece Bordelon of Metairie, Louisiana

Mr.Bordelon is married to theformer Suzanne Pamela Green, daughter of thelate Mr.and Mrs. Robert Lee Green, Jr.ofRiver Ridge, Louisiana.

King Gabrieland his wifeSuzanne have threedaughtersand six grandchildren. Olivia Bordelon Michel and her husband Stephen Charles Michel arethe parents of Joseph LeeMicheland Mary Frances Michel; Molly Bordelon Stanfordand her husband Justin Brett Stanford, arethe parents of Camden BrettStanfordand Connor Bordelon Stanford; Kate Bordelon Judice andher husband Adam Michael Judice, arethe parents of John Michael Judice andMarcRobert Judice.

Mr.Bordelon, a53-year residentofLafayette, graduatedfromEastJefferson High School in Metairie,Louisiana in 1973. After being offered numerous football scholarships in Louisiana and Mississippi, Bordelon acceptedafootball scholarship at the Universityof Southwestern Louisiana (USL),wherehewas a4-year letterman. He fondly recalls the friendlinessofthe Lafayette people and the Cajun spirit and culture as thedeciding factorsfor wanting to attend andplayfootball at USL. Bordelon and his teammateswereproud to have tied the best recordinUSL history in 1976. He graduated from USLin1977 with a degree in BusinessAdministration and Accounting. Due to the wonderful and welcoming friendships developed in Lafayette while in college, the Bordelon’s decided to makeLafayettetheir permanenthome.

Upon John’sgraduation, he beganhis career working as aMedicare Examiner with the affiliate provider Blue Cross. He held this position for threeyearsbeforeventuring out to enhance his experienceinaccounting. He accepted the position of Controller at Home Savingsand Loan in Februaryof 1981. Bordelon helped manageHome Savingsthrough the turbulentﬁnancial

KreweofGabriel

times during the 80’s. He served as Managing Officer from December of 1989 to January of 1993 when he becamePresidentand CEOofHomeBank. During the 45 yearsBordelon hasled Home Bank, thecompanyhas grownfrom$110 million to over $3.5 Billion in assets,growing from twobranches in Lafayette to 43 branches throughoutsouth Louisiana,Mississippi, and Texas. Under Bordelon’sleadership,the companywentpublic in October of 2008,the same daythe TARP Bill wassigned into law. The bank currently ranksasthe 380th largest bank in the United States. Although therewereonly 18 employees when John began his banking career at Home Bank in 1981,the bank todayemploys almost 500people today. Home Bank is the onlyremaining bank headquartered in Lafayette,Louisiana.

Over the last 50 years, Mr.Bordelon hastried to focus on giving back to the community he andhis wife aresovery proud to be part of.Heserved on the Board of the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and also served as Chairman. He wasnamed to the Board of Directorsfor theCommunityFoundation of Acadiana,and the UniversityofLouisiana Alumni Associationwhereheserved as Chairmanin2008.Heserved as Chairmanofthe CommunityBankersof Louisiana in 2008 beforeitmergedwith the Louisiana BankersAssociation in 2010. Bordelon hasalsoserved on the Boards of Southwest Medical Center, United WayofAcadiana,Louisiana Open, AscensionDay School,Women’sand Children’sHospital, St.Thomas More Athletic Supporters, and the University of LouisianaAthletic Advisory Committee. He wasthe Co-Founder and theﬁrst Chairman of the Ragin CajunAthletic Foundation (RCAF).

Bordelon washonored with the 2021 Outstanding Alumni Awardbythe UniversityofLouisiana.Hewas also highlightedatlastyear’s University of Louisiana Spring Gala as the event’shonoree, and he currently serves on the Board of the UL Foundation. Bordelon not onlyserves as Presidentand CEOof Home Bank, but in 2020 wasnamed Chairman of theBoard.Heand hiswifeare membersofAsbury Methodist Church.

Bordelon and his family have enjoyedbeing involved in LafayetteMardi Gras foroverfourdecades.Bordelon and his wifeSuzanne’sﬁrstinvolvement wasjoining the KreweofBonapartein1979. Bordelon waslatera RoyalDuke to King Napoleon Bonaparte XXV. He joined theKrewe of Gabriel in 1996 and wasaRoyal Duke to Gabriel LXVI. He washonoredasa Dukebythe Kreweof Attakapas in 2016. Bordelon representedthe KreweofXanadu as King Xanadu XXV. He served on the Board of GreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGras Association fortwo decadesand served as chairman in 2014.All theKing’s daughters were debutantsand RoyalMaids of theKrewe of Gabriel. The King’s oldest daughter, Olivia, wasa RoyalMaid to Queen EvangelineLXVI. His second daughter, Molly,was RoyalMaid to Queen Evangeline LXVIII. His youngest daughter, Kate,was Honor Maid to Queen Evangeline LXXI. Allthree daughtersofthe King were Maids in Les Brigands de Laﬁtte

Serving as RoyalPages to his majestyare Master Joseph Lee Michel and Master Camden BrettStanford, both grandsons of hisMajesty.Joseph is theson of Mr.and Mrs. Stephen Charles Micheland is in the4th grade at St.Aloysius CatholicSchool in BatonRouge.Camden is theson of Dr.and Dr.JustinBrett Stanford. Camden is in kindergarten at AscensionEpiscopal DaySchool.

MardiGrasholds aspecial place in the hearts of so many families in Acadiana.Likewise, it has always been an importantcelebrationinthe Bordelon Family.Itisatremendous honor to be chosen as King Gabriel LXXXVII, (87), King of Carnival! It is aprivilegetorepresentthe Greater Southwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociationand all itsaffiliatedKrewes.

We pray foroutstanding weather forthis MardiGrassothatthe streets will be lined with families looking to enjoythe festivities.

Laissezles Bon TempsRouler!

Q QUEEN

ELily ClaireHutchison

vangeline the LXXXVII, Queen of Carnival, Lily Claire Hutchison, will reignoverthe 2026 MardiGrasfestivities in Lafayette, Louisiana. She isthe daughterofMr. and Mrs. Scott Larcade Hutchison. Mrs. Hutchison is the former Angela Rachelle Barry. Lilyisthe sister of Kate Barry Hutchison, John HayesHutchison and Hayden ScottHutchison. HerMajestyisthe granddaughterofthe late Mr.Arthur “Art”Frank Barry,junior, and Mrs. Marlene Barry.Mrs.Barry is theformer MarleneClaireJohn. Herpaternal grandparentsare Mr and Mrs. James Michael Hutchison, senior.Mrs.Hutchison is the former Claudia Delphine Daigre.

AnativeofLafayette, Louisiana,Queen Evangeline attended Cathedral-Carmel School and St.Thomas More Catholic High School, whereshe graduated with Scholar Honorsin 2025. At St.Thomas More,she wasafour-year member of STMCheer representing her school forthree yearsonthe national levelasa member of the Cougar Competition team. She served as Spirit Coordinatorof the Competition team her Senior year and wasawarded the distinction of UCA All- American Cheerleader at UCAcheercamp at the UniversityofAlabama. Shewas aUCA National Finalist in Orlando all threeyears. Lily wasa four-year member of Campus Ministry serving on both the Light and Quest retreatteams, andasaSenior Mentor to Freshmen as an IgniteBible Study Leader.She served on amission trip to PuertoRico her Senior year,and wasavolunteer forthe Hopefest Music Festival her Junior year.Lily alsoparticipatedinmanyother activities such as French Club,StudentAmbassadors, Cougar Companions and Cougarsfor Life. Lily wasan avid tumblerthroughoutschool, participating in both competitivetumbling and recreational tumbling foracombined 14 years. Shecompeted at both the state and regional levels earning gold at both levels Lily is amember of St.Mary Motherofthe Church Parish.

Kreweof Gabriel

HerMajesty is currently aFreshmanatLouisiana StateUniversity majoring in BusinessAdministration with plans to attend LawSchool. Sheisa member of KappaKappa Gamma Sorority. Lily embraces alifelong love of MardiGras andCarnivalseason. In 2024, she wasa Debutante in the KreweofGabriel Fall Presentation. She wasalsopresented as aMaid in Les Brigands de Laﬁtte in 2025. Lily is honored andhumbled to grace the courtTuesdaynightasEvangeline LXXXVII.

The Queen’sfamily has along history of involvementinMardi Gras festivities whichspansfourgenerations.Her mother, Angela Barry Hutchison, wasa Debutante in the KreweofGabriel Fall Presentation in1994. Shewas presented as aMaidinLes Brigands de Lafitte in 1995,and as aRoyal Maid to Queen Evangeline the LVII in 1996. HerMardi Gras activities began as achild as amember of The Children’sCarnivalKrewe.Her father,Scott Hutchison, hasbeen amember of the KreweofGabriel and afloatrider in the King’s Parade on MardiGrasDay since 2003.His MardiGrasactivities began in TheOrder of theTroubadours as achild. Lily’s brother,Hayden ScottHutchison, wasa RoyalPagetoQueen Evangeline LXXVIIin2016. Herpaternalgrandfather,James Hutchison, senior,has been amember and floatrider in the KreweofGabriel since 1975.Heserved as aRoyal Duke to King Gabriel LXXVII in 2016,and he also reigned as King of the MysticKrewe of Louisianians in Washington, D.Cin1997.Her maternalgrandfather,ArthurBarry,junior,becamea member of the KreweofGabriel in 1979. He served as RoyalDuketoKing Gabriel XLVin1984, and enjoyedthe merrimentofMardi Gras as afloatrider formanyyears. Herpaternalgreat-grandfather,John BertrandHutchison, wasa member of theKrewe of Gabriel and a member of The Order of the Troubadours.Hereigned as King Richard Coeurde Lion IX in 1953.Her maternalgreat-grandfather,ArthurFrank Barry,senior,was honored as aRoyal Duke to King Gabriel XIX in 1958,and served as Commodore of the Krewein1966. Arthurreigned as King Richard CoeurdeLionXIin1955. Lily’s maternaluncle, ArthurFrank Barry III, wasa RoyalPagetoHis Majesty King Gabriel XLVI in 1985.Her maternalaunt, MichelleHutchison Killeen, was aRoyal Maid to Queen Evangeline XLVII in 1986.Michelle reigned as Queen BerengariaXXXIII of The Order of the Troubadours in 1985.Lily’smaternal great-aunt, Lynda Lee Barry,alsoreigned as Queen Berengaria XVIin1960, and Queen of Les BrigandsdeLafittein1958. Hercousin, Claudia Killeen Mixon, wasaRoyal Maid to Queen Evangeline LXXVII in 2016.Her uncle, Patrick Sean Killeen wasaRoyal Duke to King Gabriel LXVII in 2006.Her cousin, Mary Hutchison Richard, reignedasQueen EvangelineLin1989.

Attending the Queen this MardiGrasseason areher RoyalPages,Master WilliamPatrickRader and Master Benjamin GriffinDetraz.MasterRader is the sonofMr. andMrs.Neil PatrickRader and attends Cathedral-Carmel School. Mrs. Rader is the former Rebecca DaigreCurry.Master Detraz is theson of Mr. and Mrs. Drew Christian Detraz and attends AscensionEpiscopal School.Mrs Detraz is the former Caroline ChristineBordelon. TheRoyal Jester is Miss Katherine Elizabeth Chachere. MissChachereisthe daughterofMr. and Mrs. John Michael Chachere, and attends St.ThomasMoreCatholic High School Mrs. Chachereisthe former Kelli Katherine Weaver.

Lily is humbled anddelighted to reign as Evangeline the LXXXVII, Queen of Carnival2026.She extends warm greetingstoall in Acadiana and wishes everyone asafeand joyous MardiGrascelebration

Queen Evangeline LXXXVII

ROYALMAIDS to theCOURT KreweofGabriel

RM

Kylie Ryhan Miciotto,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. CharlesWilliam Miciotto, junior,attends theUniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette

BeverlyBernadettePotier,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Robert WiltonPotier, attends theUniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette

Isabella GraceBlanchard,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. BrianJosephBlanchard, attends theUniversityofLouisiana at Lafayette

ROYALMAIDS to the COURT

Camille Marie Geoffroy,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. Gregory Paul Geoffroy, attends theUniversityofMississippi

Ella Grace Earles,daughter of Mr.and Mrs. DerrickGlenn Earles,attends Louisiana StateUniversity

Lillian Angelle Rader,daughter of Dr.Allison Raderand Mr.Norris PerryRaderIII, attendsthe UniversityofAlabama

RD KreweofGabriel

Honor Duke, Mr.Adam Michael Judice is marriedtothe formerKateMcCormickBordelon

Honor Duke, Mr.Brandon Charles Trahan is marriedtothe formerAimeeClairedeGravelle

Mr.Cameron

Mr.Robert Wilton Potier is marriedtothe formerJulia CarolineSonnier

Charles Chappuis is marriedtothe former Amy Elizabeth Johnson

Mr.Brian Joseph Blanchard is marriedtothe former Stephanie Synsatayakul

Mr.Charles William Miciotto is marriedtothe former CrystalAnne Zane

RD

Mr.ScottTyler Domingue is marriedtothe former CrystalAnnetteGreene

Mr.Kyle Patrick Polozola is marriedtothe formerHelen Anne Chachere

Mr.Derrick Glenn Earles is marriedtothe formerAmy Rebecca Lemoine

Mr.JasonMichael Guidry is marriedtothe formerLorraine Rebecca Lemaire

Mr.Norris Perry Rader III is marriedtothe formerAllison Marie Zaunbrecher

Mr.Jean-Paul Phillip Coussan is marriedtothe former Jennifer Elizabeth Joy

KreweofGabriel

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie served as presidentofthe UniversityofLouisiana at Lafayettefrom2008 until2025, leading the Universitythrough aperiod of remarkablegrowth and success.

On Aug. 1, 2025, he transitioned to presidentemeritus.

Aproud UL Lafayettealumnus, Dr.Savoie earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from theUniversityand latercompleted his doctorateineducationalleadership and administration at Columbia University’sTeacher’s CollegeinNew York.

Dr.Savoie’spresidency wasmarked by significantadvancements in academic excellence, campus infrastructure,research capabilities,and community engagement. In 2021,the University earned the prestigious Carnegie R1 classification, placing it among the top3%ofresearch institutions in the nation. Under Dr.Savoie’sleadership,the Universitysurpassed$250millioninexternallyfunded research forthe first time, launched the largest comprehensivefundraising campaign in itshistory, implementedamasterplanfor campus growth, introduced newundergraduate and graduate degree programs,and opened itsHealth Sciences Campus.

He alsooversaw signiﬁcantenhancements to campus,including the expansion and renovation of academic buildings, research centers, housing, athleticsfacilities,and the constructionofa modern and moreengagingStudentUnion.

Atirelessadvocatefor highereducation, Dr.Savoie held numerous leadership rolesatthe state andnational levels.Heserved in the cabinets of three governors. He wasLouisiana’scommissioner of higher education for12yearsand championed accessibilityand affordabilityfor students

Prior to his presidency,heserved hisalmamater as vicepresidentfor University Advancement, executivedirector of the Alumni Association, program director forthe Union ProgramCouncil, studentgovernmentadvisor andadjunct assistant professor.

Dr.Savoie wasmarried to the late Gail Heinbach Savoie, a1977 graduate of theCollegeofEducation &Human Development. Ateacher andaccomplished artist,Mrs.Savoiewas aproud ambassador for heralmamater.The Savoies have twochildren, Blaireand Adam, and agranddaughter, Addison Marie.

KatherineElizabeth Chachereishonored to serveasthe 2026 RoyalCourt Jester forthe GreaterSouthwest MardiGrasAssociation. She is the daughterofMr. and Mrs. John Michael Chachere, Jr.

Katherine is agraduate of Cathedral-CarmelSchool and is currently asophomore at St.Thomas More CatholicHighSchool. She serves as aStudentCouncil ClassRepresentative,anSTM Ambassador,and an STMCheerleader.Katherineisinvolved in CampusMinistry,Cougars forLife, Cougar Companions,and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.She has earned placementonthe Silver AcademicHonor Roll and wasselectedtorepresentthe sophomore classonCougarCourt

Katherine enjoys participating in STM’sfaith-based opportunities,including Campus Ministry retreats,the PuertoRicoMission Trip,and Marchfor Life in Washington, D.C. Shehas also dedicated her time to communityvolunteer servicewith St.Joseph Diner,Second HarvestFood Bank, TheHub, andMiles Perret Cancer Services.

Katherine looksforwardtosharing amemorableand joyous MardiGrasseason withthe Acadiana community

Camden BrettStanford,son of Dr.Molly and Dr.Justin BrettStanford

JosephLee Michel,son of Mr.and Mrs. StephenCharlesMichel

Benjamin Griffin Detraz,son of Mr.and Mrs. Drew Christian Detraz William Patrick Radar,son of Mr.and Mrs. Neil PatrickRadar

E. Joseph Savoie

Katherine Elizabeth Chachere

Parade Marshal

RoyalJester

Historyofthe Carnival

The story of MardiGras&Lafayette’sMardi Gras celebrations

Thereare manytheories concerning the origin of Mardi Gras.However, it is generally accepted thatthe observance of MardiGras(alsoknown as Carnival) arises from the desire to have a good time beforefasting -to eat, drinkand be merry -beforebeginning theperiod of fasting during Lent.

Theterm “Carnival” is derived from the phrase“carne vale”,which translatesto“farewell to ﬂesh”.Fasting is an old custom and during the Middle Agesit wasa very serious matter.The consumption of meat, eggs and milk were forbidden during Lentbyboth ecclesiastical and statutelaw.Evenaslate as 1560,lawswerepassedpunishing butchers forslaughtering animals during the Lentenseason.

Throughoutthe eighteenth century,the festival of carnival was celebratedacrossthe world, Russia,Africa, India,Persia,England,and throughout the European continent. During thisperiod, the carnival in Francewas encouraged and sponsored by the French kings.The French Revolution ended the French celebration of carnival. However, early in the nineteenth century the celebrationwas reinstatedby Napoleonwithall of its’ former revelry.Itisthoughtthatduring this time, students from NewOrleans,who were attending school in Paris, witnessthesegrand celebrationsand broughtthe idea the celebration of carnival back to NewOrleans,and eventually to Acadiana

TheﬁrstMardi GrascelebrationsinAcadiana were very primitive. The women made costumes fortheir men to “Courir de MardiGras”

(literally translated“FatTuesdayrun”). On MardiGrasday,these masked men would go from farm to farm knocking on doors, singing songs, dancing, and asking forchickens,rice,and whateverwas necessary to makeagumbo.The Captain led the group of maskersand therewas muchmerrimentand clowning. Theywereusuallyfollowed by musicians in wagons which alsocarried the hens and gumbo ingredients they had collected along the way.

Theculmination waswhen everyone returned to their starting point and the women made agumbo with the ingredients.This unique celebration is still going on in the manyrural communities of Louisiana,including Mamouand Eunice.Large numbersoftourists from all over the United Statesand the world come to “Cajun Country” come to participate in the annual “Courir de MardiGras” festivities

Thefirstrecorded celebrationofMardi Gras in Lafayette wason February 14,1869whenaccording to the local newspaper “. Clement’s band provided themusic in the courthouse. ..“.But the first city wide all futureLafayette MardiGrascelebrations.The first King wasJudge GeorgeArmand “Bedon” (High Hat) Martin,known as a“...raconteur, dentist,planter, solon, and genial gentlemen.”

JudgeMartin reigned as King Attakapas,and on March2,1897,he roared into Lafayette on aSouthern Paciﬁc locomotivethathad been transformed into hisroyal throne. All futureKingsarrivedinLafayette in the same grand manner until1961, when HerbertAbdalla (the 22nd King Gabriel) used thetrain forthe last time. JudgeMartin’sQueen

See History Page27

Kreweof Krewe of Troubadours

Troubadours

Celebrates

73 Years

T73 YEARS

he Order ofthe Troubadours ball washeldFebruary 7th in theFremBoustanyBallroom of the Heymann Performing Arts and Convention Center The title of the ball was “The Court of Phillip of France, the Wines of the Aquitaine.”

Reigning overthe gala were King RichardCoeur de Lion LXXIII, Eric Abbas Movassaghi and Queen Berengaria of NavarreLXXIII, Emily Anne Broussard

Theroyal court included SirKenneth Of Huntington, RoyalKnightofthe CouchantLeopard, RichardBradley Herrmann and Lady Edith Plantagenet of Aquitaine, Juliet Elizabeth Cieslak

Special Characters to the Court, representing Ceres, Goddessofthe Harvest,IsabellaMaria Pecoraroand GrandDuchessMargueriteofFrance, Mamie ElizabethSearcy.

RoyalMaids and Dukes were Ella ElizabethCostello,TimothyJames Costello, SydneyAddison Dyson, Harry Rothman Dyson, Margaret Allene Morvant, John Pierce Morvant, Lauren AshleyQuoyeser, John Camille Quoyeser,Emily Rose Davis and James Austin Martin II.

Junior Attendants were Emma Claire Keaty,Grant George Gerdes, Olivia Michelle Coffelt,BrooksWayne Martin, Kate Frances Wood, James St.Paul Keaty II, Emilia Grace Coffelt, Tanner Hays Newman,Elizabeth Grace Quoyeser and John Benjamin Luke IV.

King, Queen and RoyalAttendants

King

RoyalAttendants

Sir Kenneth, Lady Edith, and RoyalAttendants

Sir Kenneth of Huntington: RichardBradley Herrmann

Lady EdithPlantagenet of Aquitaine: JulietElizabeth Cieslak

RoyalAttendants: CarterJamesSmith, Colin Ingram Kennedy, LaurenEliseWood, Estelle Elisabeth Matt

RichardCoeur de Lion, 73rdKing of the Troubadours – EricAbbas Movassaghi

QueenBerengaria of Navarre – EmilyAnneBroussard

- AmeliaMarie Adams, Margaret Elizabeth Andrus, Sophia Rae Cooper, Caroline CristKuon

Grand Duchess – MargueriteofFrance Special Character – Mamie Elizabeth Searcy Stewardstothe Grand Duchess – JacobWesley Tilly,Thomas Landry Lee

Ceres,Goddessofthe Harvest Special Character –IsabellaMaria Pecoraro GonfalonierstoCeres – MollieAnn McCullough, Addison ClaireMeyer (notpictured)

“The Sacred Gifts of Nature” – HerGrace Ella Elizabethofthe House of Costello RoyalDuke– TimothyJamesCostello

Gatekeepersofthe Court Karoline Elizabeth Cox, Anna-Grace MarieAdams

Kreweof Troubadours

TeenageDancers

Toprow:LondonElizabeth Schacht, Chaney Frances Joseph,Ruby KathrynGuillory, Isabella Jane Dyson

Middle row: Abigail MarieAdams, Cecile Katherine Anselmo,MichaelAlexander Krysewski,Catherine ClaireLaCour, MaeEvelyn Keaty

Frontrow: Azalie Rose Crain, Addison ReneeDelhomme, William Mark Ellis, Christopher Todd Lee, Jr., Lillia Rose Mosser, Mary-Paige Rae Shuman

NotPictured:Elizabeth Frances Pourghaed, Railey Landry Robinson

“The Art of the Vine” – HerGrace Sydney Addison of theHouse of Dyson RoyalDuke – Harry Rothman Dyson

“Cabernet Sauvignon” – HerGrace Margaret Allene of theHouse of Morvant RoyalDuke – John Pierce Morvant

Junior Attendants

Toprow:Tanner Hays Newman, JamesSt. Paul KeatyII, Grant George Gerdes, Brooks Wayne Martin

Frontrow: Emilia GraceCoffelt, Emma ClaireKeaty, Olivia Michelle Coffelt, Kate Frances Wood

Elizabeth GraceQuoyeser

myNot

“Sauvignon Blanc” – HerGrace Lauren Ashley of theHouseofQuoyeser RoyalDuke – John Camille Quoyeser

“Champagne” – HerGrace Emily Rose of theHouse of Davis RoyalDuke – JamesAustin Martin,II

Pictured:JohnBenjamin Luke IV

Kreweof Apollo

The Mystic KreweofApollo de Lafayettepresented itsForty-Ninth Annual MardiGrasBal Masque on Saturday, January 31, 2026 in the LafayetteCajundome Convention Center Approximately 2,100 spectators attended this year’s Bal Masque as invited guests of the Captain, Royaltyand theKrewe’s 90 members.

ANightatthe Museum wasthe theme of Bal Masque XLIX. Elaborate costumes were presented by variouskrewe members. The costumes represented variousworldwide museums and the contentscontainedtherein, all with the standardApollo ﬂair.The National Anthem wasperformed livebyDextaci, the ForeverMissGay America2022, and the presentation of colorswas provided by Master Sergeant Angelle Fedeli, Master SeargeantJacobSigue, Master SergeantReagan Wilkersonand Staff SeargeantAaron Mandeville. The crest of the Mystic KreweofApollode Lafayettewas presentedfor the 49thtime. Mr.Apollode Lafayette, KadariusBlack, waspresented, along with Miss National Apollo,Sy’RiaSynclaire, from Apollo de Lafayette, and Mr.National Apollo,Mr. Razr,fromApollodeBaton Rouge.

At thesound of the Captain’s whistle,Bal Masque XLIX, was kicked off with atributetoPaisleyPark, the home and studio museum of the legendaryPrince.Seventeen krewemembers kicked off the nightwithaproductionnumberto“Let’sGo Crazy”.

Reigning royalty, King ApollodeLafayette XLVIII, Jared Eubanks, and Queen Apollo de LafayetteXLVIII, Will Thiele, majestic rulersofInventions from 2025 made their regal entrance. Returning royaltyworetheir original outﬁts made of rust dupioni silk with hand beaded copper,brown,orange and gold original appliqués.Their beautifuloutﬁtswere accentedbytheir custom crowns,sceptersand backpieces createdfor theirreign.

Next,Cameryn Nezatgraciouslyﬁlled in forthe Captain, Darrell Frugé, wearing the Captain’scostume representing the “Museum of Natural History”asthe Africanbush elephantwhich is displayedinthe museum’sRotunda. A large handmadeelephant enteredthe stagewith the body made into apropand the elephanthead as an Apollo style backpiece.

Laterduring the evening, Bal Masque Co-Captain and KreweVice President, Ben Boudreaux, represented“The GrandEgyptian Museum”withabackpiece wearing King Tut’sBurial Mask. One of theBal Masque Lieutenants and Honor Court Members, Doug Taylor,representedthe “Park West Museum” with large scale replicasofpaintings by PeterMax. Our second Lieutenantand HonorCourt Member,Emmaneul Gumbs,representedthe “Lindt Home of Chocolate” museum with itssignaturechocolate fountain andlotsofglamour

OtherBal Masque Honor Court MembersKevin Doerr, alsoour KrewePresident, represented“TheWaltersArt Museum” with abackpiece containing alarge scale replica of the Gatchina Palace Fabergéegg;Jay Frost,represented the “Museum of TheAmericanRevolution” with various pieces createdtopay tributetoour history; Chad Terro, representedthe “Voodoo Museum”asPapa Legba; Michael McIntosh, representing the “Liberace Museum”;Jason Guilbeau, representing “The Palace of Versailles”,Ted Viator, representing “The Museum of Archaeologyand Anthropology”;Brent Meche,representingthe “Neon Museum” from Las Vegas; and HL Cabral representedthe “Jon Waters Museum”asDivine.

One of our BoardMembers at Large,Chris Terro, entertained the crowd as the “CountryMusicHall of Fame” withlivevocals of “Friends in LowPlaces” while the Apollo dancersline dancedthroughthe crowd andencouraged guests to singalong. OursecondBoardMemberatLarge, Taylor Dizor,representedthe “Museum of Natural History” displayingThe Hope Diamond.

Othermembers on Apollo’scourt representedvarious other museums,includingAndrewDiaz as “Dia de LosMuertos Museum”;SethAymond as “Graceland”,Mark Melancon as “The BroadwayMuseum”completewith livevocals of amedleyofBroadwaytunes; Aaron Dufreneas“Ripley’s

BelieveItorNot; JacobMuffoletto as “The Poison Garden”; Shane Menkiewicz as the“Museum of Death”; Sasha Black as “The National Museum of Wildlife Art”; Ross Doizéand AndreCarr representing the “Insectarium” withcostumes respectively displaying beetles and butterﬂies;Dailey Thibeaux as “SaveThe Arts”;and Cullen Gravouia as the “MuseumofCandy”.

Thetableau ended withthe arrival of theirmajesties,King and Queen Apollo XLIX,Rulersof“ANight at theMuseum” King Apollo XLIX, GrantMireisthe Imperial Rulerof Apollo’s“ANight at theMuseum”.The King wore aregal imported ice-blue satin Shakespearean style outfit,covered in hand beaded silver,gold and blushappliquesand further embellished withcrystal and aurorarhinestones with lavender accents.His beltedoutfit featured ahighcollar and flared waistcoat. Histailored pants,overcoatand vest all featured arhinestone lattice pattern, accentedwiththree dimensional glassflowers. The King choseabove theknee ridingboots decoratedtomatchhis ensemble.

Queen Apollo XLIX, Karma Delour, wasthe Empressof Apollo’s“ANight at theMuseum”.The Queen’sdress wasa fittedbodice withaflared hemline and had aunique, flowing overskirt of layers of imported ice-blue satin, embellished with arhinestone lattice pattern and accentedwiththree dimensional glassflowers. Herappliqueswerealsohand beaded in tones of silver,gold and blushwithlavender accents.The Queen’sbodice washeavily encrusted with rhinestone trims

King and Queen Apollo XLIXworeregal backpieces representative of an antiqueFrench lattice wall paneldesign, surrounded by silver,blueand gold scrolls and further highlighted with ﬂoraldesigns.The massive collarswere distinguishedbytheir unique design encrustedwithaurora borealis rhinestones,backed withice blue ostrich plumes and ﬂanked by lavender and palebluepheasantfeathers.

Queen Apollo XLVIII -Will Thiele

King Apollo XLVIII -Jared Eubanks, KreweTreasurer

Their beautiful ice blue mantels repeatedthe rhinestone lattice design and trimmed with agoldand silver scrolled border

Both King and Queen wore custom crowns of crystal, aurora borealis,and colored stones.Theyeach carried unique sceptersingold settingsdesigned to pairwiththeir crowns. The costumes and backpieces were designed by TedViator. KarenGuidry wasthe talentedseamstressand Mike Perioux, alsoanHonor Court Member of theMystic KreweofApollo de Lafayette, fabricatedthe backpieces

The exciting nightended as special guests of the Captain, King, Queen and Krewewererecognized. Thepartycontinued in the Convention Center as the Apollo Kreweand guests danced forhours, ending with all krewemembersonstagefor a “New York, NewYork,”tradition!

Director of the production wasRebecca Landryand the choreographer wasJade Landry Gauthreaux,both of Gerami AcademyofFine Arts.MasterofCeremonies wasJohn “JayCee” Falcon. The Officerand Board of Directorsof the Krewefor the 2025-2026 year are: Captain, Darrell Frugé; President, Kevin Doerr; Vice President, BenBoudreaux; Secretary,Sherman Bernard; Treasurer,Jared Eubanks; Historian, Shawn Pujol; and BoardMembersatLarge,Chris

Terroand Taylor Dizor.Selected by theCaptain, theCoCaptainwas BenBoudreaux, andthe LieutenantswereDoug Taylor and EmmanuelGumbs

The MysticKrewe of Apollo de Lafayette would liketothank itspatrons andsponsors, acknowledgingPlatinum Level Underwriters, The LuckyLaw Firm andUniquePhysique; Premium KreweUnderwriters–TropicalSmoothie, Avita Pharmacy,and ChaseDronet,DDS with Magnolia Family Dentistry; KreweUnderwriters–TropicalSmoothie (additionalsponsorship), Adopted DogBrewing,Deep South Productions,Piccione LawFirm, Chas Cummings Photography, Joel Cognevich&Eric Mealus,Serenity MedAesthetics,and UBreakIFix;Apollo Benefactors–Serenity MedAesthetics (additional sponsorship), Richaud Real Estate; and Friends of Apollo –Legends andWestline Event Center, Carl J. Rachal (AttorneyatLaw), Advanced Energy andVW Plus

The krewewould alsoliketothankall of their guests, Associate Krewes andfriends fortheir continuous support, friendship and loyaltythroughout thepast 50 years. As always, your encouragementand MardiGrasenthusiasmwerethe motivation forBal Masque XLIX, “A Nightatthe Museum”

In studioroyaltyphotographs and on stagephotographs arecourtesy of Ahhee Photography

To keep up with currentevents of the MysticKrewe of Apollo de Lafayette,pleasevisit ourwebsite, www.kreweofapollo.com, and like us on Facebook under The MysticKrewe of Apollo de Lafayette

Save thedate forour next annual Bal Masque,tentatively scheduled forSaturday, January 23,2027as we celebrate our50th Anniversary!

We hope to seeyou there!

Museum of NaturalHistoryCameryn Nezat

Museum of the American RevolutionJayFrost,Honor Court Member

The Walter Art Museum-Kevin Doerr, KrewePresidentand HonorCourt Member

Voodoo MuseumChad Terro, Honor Court Member

Dia de los Muertos MuseumAndrew Diaz

Liberace Museum -Michael McIntosh, Honor Court Member

Park West Gallery(Peter Max)- Doug Taylor,Bal MasqueLieutenantand Honor CourtMember

Palace of Versailles -Jason Guilbeau, Honor CourtMember

GracelandSeth Aymond

Museum of Archaelogyand Anthropology TedViator, Honor CourtMember

Museum of DeathShane Menkiewicz

Museum of BroadwayMarkMelancon

Neon Museum -Brent Meche, Honor Court Member

Country Music Hall of FameChris Terro, BoardMember at Large

The Grand Egyptian MuseumBen Boudreaux, KreweVice President and Bal MasqueCo-Captain

Ripley’sBelieve It or NotAaron Dufrene

Museum of NaturalHistoryTaylor Dizor,Board Member at Large

Lindt Home of ChocolateEmmanuel Gumbs,Bal Masque Lieutenantand Honor Court Member

The Poison Garden at AlynwickJacobMuffoletto

National Museum of Wildlife ArtSasha Black

Insectarium(Beetles)Ross Doize

Insectarium(Butterﬂies)AndreCarr

Save The ArtsDaileyThibeaux PlanetariumAJ Jubran

Museum of CandyCullen Gravouia

QueenApollo XLIX -Karma Delour

King ApolloXLIX, GrantMire

OnJanuary 3, 2026,the Children’s Carnival KreweofVersailles celebratedits 50th annual ball and51st anniversary at AngelleHall. King Louis RoideSoleil L, Saxon Fisher Mosing, sonofLindsey Mosing, andInfanta Queen Marie ThérèseL,Stella ClaireWalker,daughterofMichael and Kari Walker called forththeir subjects forthis year’s festivities as theyproudly presented“La Fete Cinquante -50 YearsofVersaillesinthe Spotlight”

Past RoyaltyHenryPierce Perret,King Louis Roi de Soleil XLIX, and ShelbyGraycePiasecki, Infanta Queen Marie ThérèseXLIX, honored the Kreweof Versailles with their royalpresence. Captain Beau Thomas Barrios,King Louis RoideSoleil XLVIII, and his lovely Co-Captain,KatherineAnn Saloom, InfantaQueen Marie ThérèseXLVIII assisted the Royaltyand their subjects.The King’sMessenger wasCharles HenrySchilling, III. RoyalAttendants were Cecilia Elizabeth McCormick, Nora Alaine Saad, William JayMcCormick and Major Baron Mosing. Gift Bearer wasEmma Kate Carbo

Kreweof Versailles

characters, performers,and entertainment styles thathaveilluminatedthe spotlightthroughout the 50-year historyofthe Children’s CarnivalKrewe of Versailles.

The Children’sCarnival KreweofVersailles welcomed Taylor Trache as MistressofCeremonies Entertainment wasprovided by the RoyalCourt Jesters, Ella Bernard andRileyDaigle from Gerami AcademyofFine Arts,and KingGabriel’sMessenger, Sawyer Grey Mosing, madea special appearance. A formal dinner anddanceatthe UL StudentUnion followedthis spectacularevent

King Louis Roi de Soleil L Saxon Fisher Mosing

Queen Marie Thérèse L Stella ClaireWalker

Queen’sAttendants

King’s Attendants

Charles “Trey”Schilling,III

The Dreamer

The Star

TheMuse

The Maker

TheRomance of Ballet The Golden Age of Theatre

The Spectacle of Cabaret

The Glamour of Old Hollywood

Christine Daae CirqueduSoleilWonder Woman Golden Dragon Cher

III

Han Solo &LukeSkywalker (Star Wars)

Glinda(Wicked)

Captain America &Spiderman

LSUGoldenBand from TigerLand & LSUFootball Player

WillyWonka

Swan Lake Hamilton SnowWhite

Marilyn Monroe Eliza Doolittle

Sophia MercedesPumarol-Cuervo

Kreweof Camelot

KingArthur XLII

Lonnie CoburnIV

King Arthur XLII

Lonnie Coburn IV

QueenGuinevere XLII Zoie Lynn Brazell

TheKrewe of Camelot celebrated its 42nd annual ball and pageanton Saturday,January 24, 2026,atthe Cajundome Convention Center Festival Ballroom. This year’s theme was“Le Festival de Camelot”. It encompassesa celebration of everyone’sfavorite Louisiana Festivals. Camelot’straditional stagedécor is reminiscentofKing Arthur’s Castle, constructed with stonewall architectureand elaborate gold and silver drapery withburgundyaccents.The KreweofCamelot’screst is always proudlyplaced center stage above reigning royalty

Camelot’s RoyalMonarchsinauguratedatthe annual eventwerethisyear’s King ArthurXLII, LonnieCoburn IV,son of Mr.and Mrs. Lonnie Coburn III. Queen Guinevere XLII, Zoie Lynn Brazell, daughter of Mr.Robert Brazell andMrs.Amy Brazell. SirLancelotduLac 2026 is Max Nader Qaisieh, son of Mr.and Mrs. Nader Qaisieh.Lady Elayne 2026isCharlotte Elise Chastant, daughter of Dr.and Mrs. BradleyChastant II.

Immediately following the pageant, aRoyal Receptionisheld in honorofour royalty andKrewe.The evening will wrap up with adance party for our young Krewe membersand their guests.

GuinevereXLII

Queen

Zoie Lynn Brazell

THEROYAL COURT

KNIGHTS ANDLADIES

Lady International Rice Festival Georgia AnnPicou

SirPercivale &LadyFestival of Lights Jackson Cole Fontenot &EasleyOustalet Picou

Sir Lancelot du Lac &LadyElayne

Max NaderQaisieh &Charlotte Elise Chastant

Captainofthe Ball Blaine James Cloutier

SirBedivere&LadyAcadiensdeCreole Grayson Alexander Sibley& Davis Dial Logan

KREWE OF CAMELOT

Merlin Scarlett Addison Sibley Jester

EvangelineRose Miceli NOT PICTURED

ROYALATTENDANTS

THEME CHARACTERS

Peach Festival

Elizabeth McClainHethcoat

Strawberry Festival

Mary-Katherine Grace Hethcoat

Contraband DaysFestival

James Oliver Best& MiloTobiasBest

Festival desFleursDeLouisiane

Chloe Marguerite Bellelo,Mia HarlowBellelo, MadalineHollyn Bellelo

King’s Attendant

Ethan Joseph Stout

Queen’sAttendant

Charlotte Renee Fontenot

Shrimp&Petroleum Festival

AmeliaGrace Stout &CatherineMae Stout

Krewe of Camelot

continued from Page 11

wasIsureMcdaniel, courts reigned in otherRoyal chariots Gras parade,aG residents of Lafaye It wasnot until celebration wasr Daughters of Amer KreweofOberon, High School Carniv first MardiGrasp parade using ove In 1933,planning by StanleyMartin, In 1934, acity-wide the leadership of and LaurentComeaux, Lafayette, includ group invitedrep ameetingwheret Association wasf the Association in MauriceHeymann becauseheunde and wason its financial During these fo the Lafayette High of Lafayette’sMar another teacher days,the floatsw lightedbymen ca

ough 1947due to ed and has been orean Conﬂict). sist the Southwest as the idea of Dr. 1950,toserve to help Greater wasF.K. Dowty. sard,Second etary.Directors Henry Heymann, King Gabriel by MissEdith ian sweethearts Scotiaand ngeline”.George and Mabel eline. wascreated nd Queen Simone ardi Gras’ court ewe. They ell known for parade. ival krewes have selecttheir own ateﬂoats and es

The Krewe of Attakapas

King LacassineLVII, Noble Chieftain of the Attakapas Samuel RileyMoss, DDS and Queen KarakondyeLVII

Wise

Owl, Cahoula

andLaughing Water

The KreweofAttakapas,Lafayette’s ﬁrst mystic women’sCarnival krewe, celebratedits 57th annual carnival ball, “TheTribalPow Wow,” on Saturday evening, January 24,2026,atthe Frem Boustany Convention Center.Led by Cahoula,Captain of the Krewe, memberspreparedguests foran unforgettablenightofcelebration, highlightedby entertainmentfromtheir muse, Laughing Water-affectionately known as “Tootsiethe Turtle” -and guided by the Wise Owl, reveredelder of thetribe.

Reigning overthe festivities were Queen KarakondyeLVIIand King Lacassine LVII, NobleChieftain of the Attakapas,Samuel RileyMoss, DDS.

Dr.Mossisa lifelong residentofLafayette,wherehebegan hiseducation at L.J. Alleman and graduatedfromLafayette High School. He earned aBachelor of Science in ZoologyfromLouisiana State Universityand laterreceived his Doctor of DentalSurgery degree from the LSU School of Dentistry

He began his career in general dentistry in Church Pointbeforereturning to Lafayette, wherehehas practiced for45years. Dr.Mossismarried to theformer Michelle Mendoza and is the proudfather of three daughters:Dorothy (Greg)Roberts, Dr.Samantha (Thomas) Alston, and Margaret Michal Moss.Together,theyare blessed with six grandchildren.

Deeplycommittedtoservice, Dr.Mossisactiveinthe communityasa member of the KreweofGabriel (Royal Duke2000). He previously served as aDukefor theKrewe of Attakapas.Internationally, he has volunteered with Vision Ministries of America in Brazil,Mexico,and Guatemala,whereheand Michelle recentlyhelped establish a libraryinrural Palin. He also serves on the Staff-Parish RelationsCommittee at Asbury Methodist Church.

The Daughters of the Attakapas,eachrepresenting a“TribalPow Wow” maiden, welcomedsix NobleWarriors,Chieftains of theAttakapas:

·Dr. Blair Cooper Budden, dermatologist with LafayetteDermatologyand Cosmetic Center,married to Katy J. Budden, escorted by theDaughter of theAttakapas representing aCherokee maiden.

·Mr. TimothyLawrence Ryan, partner withthe lawﬁrm of Williams,Anderson, Ryan and Carroll, marriedtoAnne S. Ryan, escorted by theDaughter of theAttakapas representing aChickasaw maiden.

·Mr. Blair James Scrantz, with the Atchafalaya BasinLevee Board, married to Elizabeth F. Scrantz, escorted by the Daughter of theAttakapas representing an Apache maiden.

·Mr. PatrickFranklin Lewis,owner of Southern Aid Claims,married to Kathryn C. Lewis,escortedbythe Daughterofthe Attakapasrepresenting aChoctaw maiden.

·Mr. Michael Glover,owner of FixItNow LFT,married to Kathryn“Kate”Glover, escorted by the Daughterofthe Attakapasrepresenting an Iroquois maiden.

·Mr. Charles Texada Hightower, attorneyatStubbsand Hightower, married to Mamie C. Hightower, escorted by the Daughter of theAttakapas representing a Kiowa maiden.

To capoff the magical evening, membersand guests danced the nightawaytothe high-energy sounds of BagofDonuts

Photo Credits: DannyIzzo,Nouveau Photeau

Krewe of Attakapas

Dukeand Maid: Dr.Blair Cooper Budden and Cherokee maiden

Dukeand Maid: Mr.Patrick Franklin Lewis and Choctawmaiden

Duke and Maid: Mr.TimothyLawrenceRyanand Choctaw maiden

Dukeand Maid: Mr.MichaelGloverand Iroquois maiden

Dukeand Maid: Mr.BlairJames Scrantz and Apache maiden

Dukeand Maid: Mr.Charles “Tad” Hightowerand Kiowa maiden

LLesBrigands de Laﬁtte

es Brigands de Lafitte held itscelebration on theoccasionofits 72nd Ball Masque,January 17,2026, in theFremF BoustanyBallroomatthe Heymann Performing Arts andConventionCenter. Theentrancetothe ballroom washighlighted with ahugegraphic of theEtoileRouge,Lafitte’sfamousfighting ship,and alarge likeness of Jean Lafitte.The colorful Krewecrest hung over the master of ceremonies’podiumand thebackdropdepictedabeautiful sceneof southLouisiana.The stagewas filledwithtrees andfoliage typicaltoAcadiana. Thetheme forthisyear’sballwas “ItTakes Two” andguestscould seeareplica of this year’s doubloon hangingovercenterstage.Asthe guests arrivedtheywere greetedbythe chairman of thefloorcommittee,SterlingLejeune,who provided escortstotheir seatsinthe calloutsection

Thecelebration beganwiththe traditionalcaptain’s whistleand theentranceof Jean Lafitte,who enteredtossing long necklaces andtrinketstothe guests,followed by histrusted pirate officers carrying ahugepiratechest filledwithtreasures and giftsfor thebeautiful ladies whohad assembled. Lafitte’s handpicked governors then entered, leadingthe fearless brigands (their identity hidden undercolorful

2026 QueenAnnaCatherine Cryer is thedaughterofRussell Cryer andCharlotte BuschCryer and is asenioratSt. Thomas More CatholicHighSchool.Sheisafouryear cheerleaderand competition cheerleaderfor twoyears.She is apart of BreakfastofChampions, participated in Campus Ministry for four years, andservesasa Lightretreat team leader and Encounterretreat leader.Anna Catherineparticipates in the Optionsprogram as amentor, and serves as an STMAmbassador.

Amelia LouBreaux is thedaughter of Brandonand Michelle Breaux andisasenioratSt. Thomas more Catholic High School

Sheparticipated in theHonors programfor four years. Shewas amemberofthe tennis team for threeyears andparticipated as an athletic captainfor twoyears. She wasinvolvedinCampusMinistry forfouryearsandservedasaleader fortwo years. Amelia served as aschoolAmbassadorfor two yearsand participated in the Optionsprogram as amentorfor threeyears.

72nd ball d

uniforms andbehindfull-facemasks)who paradedaroundthe largedance ﬂoor tossingbeautiful necklaces to theenthusiasticcrowd.Bytradition,the ballroom slowly darkened andthe QueenofLes Brigands 2025,MissAmelieGrace Chappuis wasrecognized. Thekrewe,following custom,recognizedall former Queens in attendance

Thedukes,eachrepresentingLafitte’syounger self,paraded theirway onto the stage. Afloat, illuminatedwithlasersand coloredelectroniclighting, enteredthe ballroom with theKing, Dr Jekyel andMr. Hyde,ridingatthe top, as he paraded around theballroomfloor. TheKingtossedtrinketsand gold pieces to hisassembled guests as he advanced to histhrone. Upon reachingthe stage, he stoppedand acknowledged hisdukes.Hethentoasted Jean Lafitte andtookhis seat on stage forthe presentation of theRoyal Maids.

TheQueen of LesBrigandsdeLafittewas announcedand presentedtothe audience by CaptainJeanLafitte. Followingthe GrandMarch andCourt Dance, members of thefloorcommittee called outthe namesofthe ladies invitedtodance with the masked pirates. Generaldancing followed to themusic of Jet7

EmilyAnneBroussard is the daughter of Mark andCarolyn Broussardand is asenioratSt. Thomas More Catholic High School.She is amemberofStudent Counciland theNationalHonor Society, involved in Campus Ministry,servedasastudent athletic trainer, andparticipated as astudentambassador.Emily serves as amentorinthe Options program, andisa member of Cougars4 Life

Mary FrancisChappuis is the daughter of Cameronand Amy Chappuis andisasenioratSt. Thomas More Catholic High School.She hasparticipatedin Campus Ministry forfouryears, hasbeenamemberofthe Cougar Spirit cheerteamfor four years andservesasco-captainthisyear.

Fran is amemberofthe Cougars forLifeclubatSTM,participates as an Optionsmentor, andisan Ambassador for theschool. She volunteers with Hope Fest and babysits in herfreetime.

Anne MarieCortez is thedaughterof Davidand ElisabethCortezand is a senior at St.ThomasMoreCatholic HighSchool. Sheisafour-year memberoftheSparklerDanceTeam andservesasco-captainofsocial mediaduringher senior year.She is asix-timenationalchampion anda one-time worldchampion with theSparklers.Annereceived academic excellence awards and is an academic letterman. She participated in Campus Ministry forfouryears andservesasan Encounterretreat team member,a teamleader,andaBiblestudyleader. Sheisamemberofthe National HonorSociety,Cougars forLife, Beta Club,and French Club.Ann serves as ateamambassador, is aCougarCompanion member, volunteers at Hope Fest,servedon aPuertoRicomission trip,and is a member of theHomecoming Court during hersenioryear.

Kate EliseDanner is thedaughter of Dwayne andElise Danner andisasenioratHighlandPark High School,Dallas, TX.She is a four-yearvarsity lettermanand currentcaptain of theHighland Park Lady Scotsbasketballteam. Herleadership andtalentonthe courthave earned hernumerous honors,including selections to theAll-State, All-Region,and All-Districtteams.Sheisamember of theNationalHonor Society, Junior SymphonyBallsteering committee, andClub72where sheservesasanofficer. Shewas selected to be on thehomecoming courther senior year.Katehas committedtoplaybasketballatthe University of SanDiego next fall

McCartneyAnn Moncla is the daughterofMattandLaceyMoncla andisasenioratSt. Thomas MoreCatholicHighSchool. She is athree-yearmemberofthe St.ThomasMoreCompetition CheerleadingTeamand was recognized with theUCA PinIt ForwardAward at MastersCamp. Shehas been actively involved in campus ministry forfouryears, servingasanIgniteBible Study leader andasamemberofthe EncounterRetreat team.She also participated in the10,000 Feet Retreat in Colorado.Inaddition, shehas served as aStudent Ambassador fortwo yearsand is an active member of Cougars for Life andCougarCompanions.

SofiaIsabellaElliott is thedaughterof Bill andJoyce Elliottand is aseniorat St.ThomasMoreCatholicHighSchool. Sheisathree-yearrecipient of the Academic Excellence Award, completed allHonorsandAPcourseworkwitha4.0 GPA. Sheisa member of theNational HonorSociety andreceivedthe English IIIHonorsSubject Award, served four yearsonStudentCouncil—threeyearsas aclass representative andcurrently as ExecutiveBoardSecretary.Soﬁaisafouryear Cougar CompetitionCheerleader andinCampusMinistry servingasan EncounterTeamLeader,IgniteBible StudyLeader,LightRetreatLeader,anda memberofHopefestCommittee.Shewas electedtoCougarCourt in 2023 andto theHomecomingCourt in 2025.Soﬁais in Cougarsfor Life,CougarCompanion, Beta Club,CougarAmbassador,and French Club.She also participated in amission trip to Puerto Rico

YvetteLussanOlivier is thedaughter of Jasonand Jennifer Olivier andis asenioratSouthside High School. Shemaintains a4.0 GPAand is amemberofthe National Honor Societyduringher junior and senior years. Evie hasservedasa religionteacher at SaintJoseph’s Catholic Church fortwo yearsand is also an active member of the Creative Writing Club

Leah Marie Foreman is thedaughter of Andrew andEmily Foreman andisa senior at St.ThomasMore Catholic High School.She is afouryear member of theCompetition Cheerleading Team,currently servingasteamcaptain.She has been actively involved in campus ministry forfouryears as an Ignite BibleStudy leader andasa member of theEncounter andLight retreat teams. Leah hasalsobeenselected as aHomecomingCourt member andhas participated in Cougars forLifefor threeyears, served as a Cougar Companionfor threeyears, andrepresented theschoolasa StudentAmbassador for twoyears. Leah is amemberinthe Beta Club andNationalHonor Society, an Academic Lettermanand 4-year Excellence HonorRollrecipient.

JosieKeller Patin is thedaughter of Mark andJoLynnPatin is a senior at St.ThomasMoreCatholic HighSchool. Sheisa three-year member of theCompetition Cheer Squadand aone-yearmemberof theSpiritCheer Squad. Shehas been actively involved in Campus Ministry forfouryears,serving as aleader in Ignite BibleStudy,Light Retreat,and as aQuest Leader, andhas attended 10,000 Feet RetreatinColorado. Shehas also served as aStudent Ambassador forthree yearsand is an engaged memberofCougarCompanionsand Cougars4 Life.Josie’s academic achievements includethe Silver Academic Excellence Awardand theBronzeAcademic Award.

Anna KathrynFremin is thedaughter of Ronald andKatyFreminand is asenioratSt. Thomas More Catholic High School.She is afour-year member of theSt. Thomas More Sparkler Dance Team whilethe team earned six National Championship titles and oneWorld Championship title. Shehas beenactivelyinvolved in campus ministry forfour years, servingasanIgniteBible Studyleaderand as aleaderof theEncounter andLight retreat teams. In addition,AnnaKathryn is an active member of Cougars4 Life,CougarCompanions, andthe StudentAmbassadorprogram

Eleanor Rose Guidry is thedaughter of Neal andAshleyGuidryand is a senior at St.ThomasMoreCatholic High School.She is a2022Cougar Courtmemberand hasearned Academic Excellence recognition for threeyears,along with theTop CatAward andthe Breakfastof ChampionsAward.She is afour-year member of StudentCouncil,serving as Senior Class President, anda four-yearmemberofthe Beta Club Herleadershipand serviceextend throughfouryears with Cougarsfor Life andfouryears on theVarsity Volleyball Team,where sheserves as the2025TeamCaptain andhas been selected to theAll-LadyCougar Team.Eleanor hasalsobeenactively involved in campus ministry for four yearsand is amemberofthe National HonorSociety.

Lauren Ashley Quoyeser is the daughter of John andJackie Quoyeserand is asenioratSaint Thomas More Catholic High School.She serves as Captainof theCougarSpiritCheer Team andhas been amemberofthe Homecoming Court. Atwo-time recipientofthe STMTop Cat Award, Lauren is involved in several campus organizations, includingthe OptionsMentor Club,CampusMinistry Club whereshe also serves as aRetreat Leader—Cougars forLifeClub, andhas been recognized at the BreakfastofChampions twice forher achievements

Anne Conway Schoeffler is the daughter of Davidand Kelly Schoeffler andisasenioratSt. Thomas More Catholic High School.AnneConwayisamember of theCompetition CheerTeamfor four years. Shehas beenactively involved in Campus Ministry, leadingIgniteBible Studyand LightRetreats,and participating in theEncounter Retreat,10,000 Feet RetreatinColorado,and a missiontriptoPuertoRico. She hasalsobeenhonored as amember of both Homecoming Courtand Cougar Court.

of Victoria

The KreweofVictoria held its 32nd Ball Masque at eight o’clock in the evening on Saturday, January 10,2026 at the Frem Boustany Convention Center.The ladies of The KreweofVictoria celebratedthe joie de vivre, the U.S. Semiquincentennialand MardiGraswith Americathe Beautiful.

Queen Victoria XXXII, Beverly Jane Ruffin

Prince Albert XXXII, Dave Domingue

QueenVictoriaXXXII– BeverlyJaneRuffinPrinceAlbert XXXII, Dave Domingue

QueenBeverly Jane Ruffin’sjourneybegan in Frankfurt,Germany, whereshe waslovingly adopted, and eventuallycametoliveinLafayette. Sheattended Louisiana State UniversityinBaton Rougeand Louisiana State UniversityinShreveport. She has Bachelor of Science degreesin both General Businessand Accounting.

Queen Beverly enjoyedadistinguished career working with several esteemed CPAﬁrms acrossmultiple cities before retiring in 2013 from her role with the CityofAlexandria.

Queen Beverly served as Treasurer forseveral community organizations,includingthe Professional Women’s Exchangein Alexandria,the Arts Council of CentralLouisiana,the Alexandria Jaycees,The Junior League of Alexandria andthe Alexandria MardiGras Association.

Shehas been an activeand devotedmemberofthe Junior Leaguefor many years, earning recognition as Alexandria’sSustainer of the Year for 2007-2008 and receiving the prestigiousPresidential Sustainer Awardin Lafayettefor 2022-2023

Queen Beverly joined the KreweofVictoria in 2021 andservedas Duchessin2024representing Grace Kelly at the ball.

HerRoyal Consort,her signiﬁcantother,isMr. Harold “Brother”Poole, Jr.Consort “Brother”retired from 31 yearsasPresidentofOperations for Harold C. Poole Nursery, IncofForestHills,Louisiana

Serving as RoyalAttendants to Queen Beverly were Audrey Claire Arceneaux, daughterofStaff Sgt.Julian Arceneaux andBrianna Brasseaux, granddaughterofDuchessBrittian Billeaud and great granddaughterofQueen Victoria XVIII, Sharon Yeomans.Alsoservingas RoyalAttendants were Kooper Madison and KinsleyMarie Thompson, daughters of Troy and Kendra Thompson, and closefriendsofthe Queen.

Prince Dave Domingue is agraduate of The UniversityofSouthwestern Louisiana with aBachelor of Arts in Psychology. He also attended graduate studies in TheologyatLoyolaUniversity.

Prince Dave worked for35yearsinthe International Center of the LafayetteConsolidatedGovernmentand is currently the Directorof InternationalTrade andDevelopment.

In addition to his professional achievements,PrinceDavewas the foundingmember of anumberoforganizations,includingFreetown DistrictCommission, Choral Acadienne and La Compagnie Louisianaise. He hasperformed with the USLOperaGuild and AbbeyPlayers,and volunteered forFestival International de Louisiana,FestivalsAcadiens et Creoles,and Acadiana C.A.R.E.S. He is the former interim Director of Music forCathedral of St John the Evangelist,the former director of Liturgy forOur Lady of Wisdom Church and the former chairman of Diocesan Worship Commissionfor the Catholic DioseseofLafayette.

Prince Dave is currently aboardmember and secretary forLa Foundation Louisiana andaboardmember for232-HELP

Prince Dave’s activitieswith MardiGrasinclude being aboardmember forthe GreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociation, aformer board member andsuitemanager for10yearsfor the LafayetteSuiteat the Washington MardiGras, andaformer second-generation member of the KreweofGabriele. Prince Dave also served as aDukefor Kreweof Gabriel in 1989,the KreweofAttakapas in 1994, and the KreweofVictoria in 2013

Prince Dave’s Consortishis long-time friend,Deborah Sprague ConsortMemberDebbie hasbeen aVictoria KreweMember since2004, wasa Duchessin2013, and is currently Treasurer of the Krewe. Sheisa retired C.P.A. andlovestravelling and spending time with family.

DuchessBrittianBilleaud represented BetsyRoss

Krewe of Victoria

Members of the2026 Royal Court

RoyalAttendants Kinsley Thompson, Audrey Claire Arceneaux, &KooperThompson

DuchessDr. JannaFlint Wilson representedRosie the Riveter

Valets

Jon Bernard, Karl LeGier, MarkBarton, Gran Andrews, &ChadClement

Duchess Mary Hays represented Lady Liberty

MaverickWest

Kreweof Xanadu

QueenXanaduXXXVI

Queen of Hearts

Kimi Hargrave

Lafayette’sLafayette’slargest all women’s krewe, the KreweofXanadu, will celebrate awhimsical and magical 2026 “Mad Hatter’s Masquerade” Tableau and BallonFriday, February 13 at 8pm at theLafayetteCajundome Convention Center.Itwill be aglamorousglow affair with an evening of luminous wonder and curious delights.

The KreweofXanadu proudlyannounces Queen XanaduXXXVI, KimiHargrave, and King Xanadu XXXVI, Jeff Hargrave,who willreign overthe 2026 MardiGrasseason andthe Krewe’ssignature event, the MadHatter’sMasquerade Ball. Queen XanaduXXXVI,KimiHargraveand King XanaduXXXVI, Jeff Hargrave willreign overthe 2026 MardiGrasseason andBall. KimiHargrave, theXanadu QueenofHearts, is anativeofAcadiana and founderofCajunBug Exterminating, LLC.She serves as co-ownerofJ KStrategy &Consulting alongside her husband. Theroyal couple arethe proudparents of their daughter,Graci Elizabeth Noel Hargrave QueenKimihas been an activemember of Xanadu since 2019.In2020, she wasaRoyaltyMusefor the Krewe’s30thAnnual Ball, joining the celebrated “PearlieGirls.” Kimirepresented the goddessThaila as a“Hurricane” cocktail forthe “Cheersto 30 Years” Theme. Sheisdeeplyinvolved in community service andprofessional leadership.Her affiliations includeBig BrothersBig Sisters, Love INC, One Acadiana,the Acadiana Pest ControlAssociation

(APCA), and theLouisiana Pest ManagementAssociation (LPMA). She is aPast PresidentofAPCA and currentlyserves as Treasurer forbothAPCA and LPMA. Sheisacharter member of Professional Women in Pest Management(PWIPM), Louisiana Chapter.Queen Kimi believesthe Kreweexempliﬁes thestrength of womeninasocial setting, a sentimentreﬂected in her favoritequote,“Dazzle with Excellence.”

AnativeofAcadiana,King Jeff Hargrave,the Xanadu King of Hearts, is thefounder of Cajun Bug Exterminating, LLCand serves as an Operations Consultantfor Stark Exterminators.Heisalsothe co-owner of JK Strategy &Consulting. Jeff is an Associate Certiﬁed Entomologist,one of only 18 in the state of Louisiana,and serves on numerous organizational boards.Heisthe PresidentofLIPCA,Inc., Louisiana’spestcontrol operator–owned insurance company. Recently, he wasselected by theNational Pest ManagementAssociation to representLoui-

KreweofXanadu Celebrates Its

“MadHatter’s Masquerade”

King XanaduXXXVI

King of Hearts

Jeff Hargrave

siana on theSPARLegislativeCommittee. Jeff has served as Past Presidentand Treasurer of the Louisiana Pest ManagementAssociation, as well as Past Presidentofthe Acadiana Pest ControlAssociation. King Jeff washonored with the prestigiousPaul K. Adams Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to the Louisiana Pest ManagementAssociation and the pestcontrol industry statewide.

Danielle Anthaume KeyserservesasCaptain forthe KreweofXanadu’s 2025/2026Mardi Gras season. The theme,Mad Hatter’s Masquerade, reﬂects Danielle’sloveofwhimsical, eccentric,and lighthearted fun. Danielle is anativeofLafayette andismarried to herhighschool sweetheart of 27 years, Kevin Louis Keyser. Theyhavetwo beautifuldaughters, Madisonand Mackenzie,who are bothattending LSU.Danielle is an Occupational Therapist of 25 years, specializing in geriatrics and working in skilled nursing facilities and home health. Shehas served as Presidentofthe Louisiana Occupational TherapyAssociation, enjoys lecturingatuniversities,and is aﬁerce advocate forher profession. Danielle joinedthe KreweofXanadu in 2009.She wasaMusein2015onthe PrincessEver After Court and is oftenheard saying “Lifeisshort, live it to the fullest, and makeitSPARKLE!

Established in 1990,the KreweofXanadu is based on theGreek GodZeus,the Goddess of Memories, Mnemosyne and their daughters,the nine muses.Xanadu’s RoyalCourtmembers represent theseMuses

Jeff Hargrave King Xanadu XXXVI King of Hearts

Kimi Hargrave Queen Xanadu XXXVI Queen of Hearts

SusanDoucet Alice

DanielleKeyser Xanadu Captain Mad Hatter

Jeff Hargrave King XanaduXXXVI King of Hearts

Danielle Keyser Xanadu Captain Mad Hatter

Kimi Hargrave Queen Xanadu XXXVI Queen of Hearts

Debbie Olivier TheDormouse

Kristy Sturm Chess Piece

Denise Durel Shattered LookingGlass

Kayla Gaudet Blue Caterpillar

TiffanyCollette Pink Rabbit

AmyBriscoe WonderlandDragon

Donna Olivier Wildflower Enchantress

VeeBernis-Cazelot CheshireCat Kreweof

in the History of Lafayette’sMardi Gras celebration

1869:Firstrecorded MardiGrasobservance in Lafayette

1896:First city-wide celebration

1897:KingAttakapas arrivesinLafayetteonaSouthern Paciﬁc locomotive (tradition remains through 1961)

1897:Firstparade and ball areheld

1926:Krewe of Oberon is formedand city-wide celebrations resume.

1927:First LafayetteHighSchool Carnival andﬁrstAmerican Legion parade

1934:Civic leadersform the GreaterSouthwest Louisiana MardiGrasAssociation to coordinate andpromote annualMardi Gras celebrations

1934:KingGabriel and Queen Evangeline become the official names forLafayette’s MardiGrasRoyalty

1942:MardiGrascelebrations suspended during duration of WWII

1948:Annual MardiGrascelebrations return to Lafayette

1949:Krewe of Gabriel is formedtoassistGreater Southwest promoteLafayette’s MardiGrascelebration.

1965:First Tuesdaynightparadehonoring the Queen Evangeline

1970:TuesdaynightQueen’sparademovedtoMonday night.

1986:Saturdaynightparade added with the KreweofBonaparte

1987:Firstparade thatphysically ranthroughthe Cajun Dome.

1990:Saturdayafternoon parade added with the “Children’sParade”

1993:Parade routeextended to run throughCajun Field

1993:“Le Festival de MardiGrasaLafayette”, a“familyfriendly” atmosphere with games, carnival rides,Cajun food andlivemusic wasformedatCajun Field

1998:Fridaynight“Kick-Off Parade” added

2005:Parades expanded again with the addition of the KreweofCarnivaleenRio parade

The Scott BusinessAssociation celebratedits twenty-ninth annualMardi Gras Ball on January 10,2026,atthe ScottEvent Center.The theme forthe ball was “Zydeco Vibrations”.The Event Center wasadorned in an elegant displayof colorsofblack, red, and gold.

Entertainment wasprovided by dancersfromSugar and Spice Dance Academy, and court jesters were Kinley Lopezand Lillian Gary Reigning overthe festivities wasKing Alexander XXIX PatBordes II and Queen Olivia XXIX Cynthia D. Labiche. Patisthe sonofPat and Loretta Bordes and married to Jessica. Theyhaveone daughter, Shelby, and alateson Trey Patattended RayneHigh School and the UniversityofSouthwestern Louisiana He is State Certiﬁed in the Food Safety Program.Pat is co-owner of Fezzo’s Seafood and Steakhouse(all 3locations), A&SSeafood,Rochetto’s Pizzeria(both locations),Threads AClothing Boutique along with severalother holdings.

He is very active in the community serving on many boards.Just to name afew:One Acadiana,Kiwanis Club of Scott, SBA, Rayne Frog Festival Grand Marshal (2024),Rayne and Crowley Chamber of Commerce, and Louisiana RestaurantAssociation-Acadiana Chapter.Inhis sparetime Patenjoys attending livesporting events or watching themontelevision.

Cynthia wasborn in Rayne and raised

Scott Business Association Celebrates

VZydecoibrations

in Duson. She is the daughterofPatrick and Betty Dugas. She is married to King Alexander6th Joey and hasone daughter, Torieand soninlaw Talon along withtreasured fur babyMaverick. She is agraduate of Acadiana High School and obtained her Bachelorof Science in Nursing Degree from the UniversityofSouthwestern Louisiana. She obtained her Master’s Degree in nursing from theUniversityofSouth Alabama.Cynthia is aregistered nurse as aPsychiatric Mental Health Practitioner forbothadults andfamily

Cynthia is the ownerofLocal Psych Servies in Scottand doescontract work forNew Iberia Comprehensive

CommunityHealthCenter. She is amember of theAmericanNurses Association and American Association of NursePractitioners. She hasbeen along-term member of the SBA. She enjoys vacations withher familyand her pet,shopping,and crafting in herspare time.

MissScottAddison LeeDuplantis served as royalMaid. She is thedaughter of Cole and LauraDuplantis.Addison is aSenior at Acadiana High,where she is amember of the FutureFarmersof Americaand theStudentCouncil. She hasbeen dancing at Gerami Academy of Fine Arts for15years. She plans to attend theUniversityofLouisiana

at Lafayettefor pre-dental hygienist, then completing the programatthe University of Louisiana at Monroe. In her sparetime, she enjoys hunting with her Dad and hanging out with friends Ronnie Duplantisservedasroyal Duke. Ronnie is the grandfather of Addison. He is agraduate of Rayne High School and co-founded Service Machine &Supply. His passioniscollecting sports memorabilia and spending time withhis family.

Junior Miss Scott Blakelyn Jade Thibodeaux alsoservedasamaid. Sheisthe daughterofMeagan Savoie and the late BlakeThibodeaux. She is aSophomoreatDavid Thibodeaux Stem Magnet Academyenrolled in the biomedprogram. Sheplans to attend theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette to become aregistered nurse.Her spare time is spentwithfriends and attending Crossroads Church.

Damon Rae’Leger served as Royal Duke. He is the stepfathertoBlakelyn. He is agraduate of Comeaux High School. Damon is self-employed in residential and commercial construction. He enjoys cooking and spending time withfamily.

Beforebreaking into full partymode, special entertainmentwas provided by Chubby Carriere.

The reigning royaltyjoined in atoast withthe crowd theneveryone was invited to party the nightaway.

JoiedeVie and Allon Dasanse!!!!

King Alexander XXIX PatBordesII

Junior Miss ScottBlakelyn Thibodeaux DukeDamon Lager

Miss ScottAddison Duplantis DukeRonnie James Duplantis

Queen Olivia XXIX

Cynthia D. Labiche

Kreweof Bonaparte

Coronation Ball LIII 2026

TheKreweofBonapartewillcelebrateits53rdyearMondaynightwithaRoyalCourtofelevenandmore than 1,500members. Ledbytheir CaptainLeMarquis de Lafayette, Mr.Gregory Paul Geoffroyand honoring King Napoleon XLIX andQueen JosephineXLIX, Mr.and Mrs. DouglasJames Comeaux, they will dazzle anddance thenight away as is theirLundi Gras tradition.EmpressJosephine XLIX is the former Rachel Dias.Royal Maidsinclude MelissaMaeker, Pamela AnnGrace,Tia Carlos Castille,and Beth Ratcliff Deloach. RoyalDukes areBrandon EbnerBreaux, Evan Drew Saterﬁel,Christopher Joseph Bordes, andChristopher Paul Rader.

Othernotable dignitariesbeing introduced Mondaynight willinclude the Krewe’sPresident, Le Premier, Brady“Fig” Bell,and hiswife, Ashley Johnson Bell,thePresidentoftheGreaterSouthwestLouisianaMardiGrasAssociation, ChrisPaulVillemaretteand hiswife, StaciKnoxVillemarette, themaids and dukesofthe Greater SouthwestLouisiana MardiGrasAssociation,and King GabrielLXXXVII, John Wesley Bordelon andQueen Evangeline LXXXVII, Lily Claire Hutchison.

In addition to thecoronationball, theKreweofBonaparte celebrates Mardi GrasthroughouttheyearwithmultiplesocialeventsincludingaNewMember Social,aFallCocktailParty,afamilyChristmaseventattheﬂoatdenfeaturing avisitfromSanta,aPre-ParadeParty,theSaturdayNightParade,MardiGras Family DayGardenParty,and aKreweﬁshBoil.

TheKrewe entertainedLafayette with anotheroutstanding parade on Saturday nightwith1,017 ridersand 31 ﬂoats…ourlargest number of riders to date!Tomorrownight thecoronationballwillbeheldatthe Cajundome Convention Center andwillinclude atableau directed by RebeccaLandry, andmusic provided by Parade Route. Thestage androyal costumes have been designed by TedViatorand constructedbyViatorand Associates,Inc., Karen Guidry,and Cheryl Nevils.

King Napoleon XLIX

Douglas James Comeaux

EmpressJosephine XLIX

RachelDias Comeaux

RoyalMaid

TiaCarlosCastille RoyalMaid

Beth Ratcliff Deloach RoyalMaid

Melissa Maeker

RoyalMaid

Pamela AnnGrace

RoyalDuke

Christopher Paul Rader

Captain Gregory Paul Geoffroy

RoyalDuke

EvanDrewSaterﬁel

RoyalDuke

Christopher Joseph Bordes

RoyalDuke

Brandon Ebner Breaux

The Acadiana Advocate 02-17-2026

ROYALRAMBLE

License-platereadercameras

3 killed in R.I. rink shooting

Oscar-winning actor Robert Duvall dies

Iran meets U.N. nuclear watchdog in Switzerland

KreweofBonaparte

MARDI GRAS 2026

GUTHRIE

CAMERAS

PRESIDENT

Minn. denied access to evidence in shooting

Searchers find wreck of steamer in Lake Michigan

Area 51

JanRisher

It’s halftime, nota hobby

Duvall’stimeremembered

Actor filmed ‘The Apostle’ around Lafayette

CHILDREN’S CHASE

Festival International releases 2026 lineup

Severaltornadoes reported on Saturday

MardiGras spirit welcomes alltothe celebration

What BR canlearn from Ohio aboutcurbing crime

In Carnival satire,a littleless Trump, alittlemoreTrumpism

Zulu,Argus royaltymeetin Kenner forLundi Gras event

FESTIVAL

RISHER

STORM

LOTTERY

Top five remain unchanged

Michigan No. 1 for ﬁrst time in over a decade

After suing NASCAR, Jordan in victory lane

NBA All-Star weekend setup allows for closer competition

UL SOFTBALL

UL BASEBALL

Meyers Taylor wins first gold at 41

Gu wins silver in big-air ﬁnal for 5th Olympic medal

TV HIGHLIGHTS

Best STM soccer scorer looks to end career in style Acadiana girls earn lofty seed for their

LAMAR

LSU MEN

BOYS BASKETBALL HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

LSU-Oklahoma gymset for7th straight 1-2matchup

MJ’s Cafe reopening with new owner, menu

Resurrection fern revivestoa lush greenafter rainfall

CAPITALCITY CARNIVAL

Alookatsomeofthe happenings at BatonRouge MardiGras2026

Friend backsout of vacation plans

FERN

Is ‘gussied up ’ acompliment?

Tips forcleaninghard-to-reach areas

TODAYIN HISTORY

Sudoku

2026 MardiGras MardiGra

CONTENTS

Participating Krewes

K KING

KreweofGabriel

Q QUEEN

ELily ClaireHutchison

Kreweof Gabriel

ROYALMAIDS to theCOURT KreweofGabriel

RM

ROYALMAIDS to the COURT

RD KreweofGabriel

RD

KreweofGabriel

Historyofthe Carnival

Kreweof Krewe of Troubadours

Troubadours

Celebrates

73 Years

T73 YEARS

Kreweof Troubadours

TeenageDancers

Kreweof Apollo

Kreweof Versailles

Kreweof Camelot

THEROYAL COURT

KNIGHTS ANDLADIES